


Tear It All Down

by Mavynn



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Harry Potter, Auror Ron Weasley, Blackmail, Cheating, Draco for the win, Eventual Romance, F/M, Head Auror Harry Potter, Kidnapping, Veritaserum, We Love Our Slytherin Bad Boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-08-09 20:55:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 43,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20123704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mavynn/pseuds/Mavynn
Summary: Proof that if one really wants to one can tear down their entire life and start over again. For better or worse. Bonding  over shared pain and memories, Draco and Hermione become as close as family. When her life is turned upside down will it become more? And will the person who destroyed her marriage to Ron destroy her new happiness? And why do they even want to?





	1. Chapter 1

**In Defense of Astoria**

Hermione thought she knew what the press would say. The Golden Trio, alone or together, could not bear to go on a simple shopping trip in Diagon Alley without creating a scene. They would say that they were glory hungry and reveled in the press’s attention. None of which was the truth. Harry, Ron and she would love to be left alone with their spouses to raise their children. But even now seven years after the Battle of Hogwarts the press still stalked them

Or she _would have_ thought that. But for only the second time in her life, Hermione did not stop to think. No plan. No list. No trip to the library. She just acted. It must be something to do with the last name, because someone else with the same last name caused this same response in her once, the overwhelming desire to do violence.

Three men were blocking a woman about her own age pushing a pram with a baby inside. “Yer kind in’t wanted ‘ere, go shop wif the other filf like you.”

Hermione was impressed with the woman’s composure, she had to be terrified, but she answered evenly, “I have come here to shop like anyone else, please remove yourself from my path and leave us alone, my son is sleeping and we only want to be on our way.”

The man sneered “Your filfy blood tain’ed son ain’ got no more bidness ‘ere than snot ‘as inna teacup.” That was the final straw for Hermione. She knew the child was the same age as her Rose.

She stepped forward, her wand was not drawn but she did not need it to be dangerous. Not anymore. “Leave them alone. In fact, just leave. Now.” She did not raise her voice, she did not need to, the war had changed her, when she wanted to she could sound menacing while calmly sipping tea.

The man was either too drunk or too stupid to notice. He also did not notice his friends backing away and trying to pull him along. “err.. Stu…” one said sounding frightened.

“No no Larry, le’s fin’ out what the lil girl here thinks she kin do abou’ it” The one called Stu slurred.

Hermione stepped forward, close, too close, the man, Stu, grabbed her arm, this is what she had wanted. “What CAN I do Stu?” She hissed? “I CAN wait for my husband and my best friend to show up, you might know them as Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter, neither one will be thrilled that you grabbed me.”

His eyes got round as he finally recognized who he was holding on to, he tried to let go but the wandless and silent sticking spell she had cast on herself prevented that.

“I CAN wait for her husband to show up and find out you accosted his wife and child in the street. As I recall he has a vicious mean streak that almost rivals mine.“ Her eyes seemed far away for a moment.

Stu continued whining.

“I CAN call a full Wizengamot to hold you accountable for assaulting a magical law enforcement officer in public, her husband, my husband and Harry have seats on the Gamot by the way… that will not end well for you…” Hermione grinned maliciously.

His swallow was audible, his terror was in full force but she forced him to hold her gaze. “What I AM going to do is this” she brought her knee up forcefully into his groin; he vomited from the sudden pain. “Now we are going to have a chat.” She said calmly, ignoring the fact that he had vomited down the front of her robes.

“Stay where you are” Hermione shot a look to his friends who tried to get away, they did not dare move again.

“We fought a war, I had to fight, to kill children, FUCKING CHILDREN, and maybe they would have always been vile, loathsome, evil, little cockroaches but we will never know because they never had a CHANCE TO CHANGE!” She screamed this last part. “Children that I had gone to school with since I was ELEVEN FUCKING YEARS OLD, DEAD, because maniacs like you think blood is important, do you think I did that so you could bully a woman and her child in the street because they ARE pureblood?”

He moaned

“Answer me.” Hermione snarled in to his face.

“No… no ma’am, but ma’am thems got’s the mark, they do they were supporters of…” He was whining. Hermione had no patience for whiners.

She suddenly released him and grabbed her arm, “Get out, and leave before I do something to you that will be on the front page of every paper in the wizarding world. And if I EVER see you attack someone for scars or marks forced on them during that war I will use the only time turner left in existence to send your eyes into the future where they can see I am STILL kicking your arse, but first, apologize to Mrs. Malfoy, ALL of you”

They needed no more encouragement, stuttering out hasty apologies they ran like Voldemort himself was on their tail.

Without turning around, Hermione asked quietly “Mrs. Malfoy, is your son still asleep?”

Astoria, somewhat in awe of the tigress who had unexpectedly and viciously defended her, but now, inexplicably, sounded defeated, “Yes Mrs. Weasley, he is, thank you.”

Hermione’s shoulders slumped; “Granger-Weasley .” Hermione automatically corrected, without thinking about it, “Scourgify” she cleaned the front of her robes “you won’t thank me when we are splashed across the front page tomorrow, I am sorry for that. I should have left it for Malfoy.”

But she hadn’t, she couldn’t. It did not startle her to hear Draco speak up. She had known he was there, just as she knew Ron and Harry were now behind her. She heard the sneer in his voice,

“Yes, you should have, I will take care of the Press, _Granger.” _She flinched slightly at his tone but said nothing about it.

She just nodded. She never turned her head to look at him, at any of them.

No one missed the fact that she had not taken her hand from her arm. Everyone but Astoria knew what she was covering with long sleeves and now her hand, what was carved there.

Ron reached out for her, but knew that she welcomed no touch when she was reminded of that day and he dropped his hand. “Mione, love, are you ready to go home” he whispered quietly.

Hermione walked a few feet to a low wall and stood against it her back still to them so they would not see how close she was to losing her composure again. “No Ronald, I need to be in a very dark place for a while.” She apparated away.

“You better go talk to her mate” Ron said to Harry, “You know I am no good at this stuff, you fix these things better than I do.”

They heard a derisive snort from Draco.

“You got a problem with me wanting my wife to feel better, Malfoy?” Ron asked, angrily.

Draco sneered at them both “No, no, please, go ‘fix’ things again, both of you know sooo much about being marked in the war.”

Harry waved his hand towards his scar

“Yeah, that is EXACTLY the same, Potter.” Draco smirked, “The famous lightning bolt seen as a badge of hope and courage given to you as an infant so that you have no memory of receiving it EXACTLY the same as being tortured and having a slur carved into you.”

Astoria was appalled at her husband’s demeanor “Draco…” she admonished her hands covering her mouth. She had never seen this side of her husband.

Ron’s face turned redder than his hair, just as he opened his mouth to speak Harry said “Fair point, you are right, so what do you suggest?” Harry knew Malfoy would not have spoken up unless he wanted to voice his opinion; years of sitting on boards with him gave Harry that experience.

Ron stared at Harry as if he had taken up breeding garden gnomes as a hobby.

“I suggest you leave it to the expert in marks. Me.” Harry nodded.

Ron shouted “Hell will freeze over first”

Astoria looked at Harry and Draco like they had lost their minds. “Wait” she said thoroughly confused, “You don’t even like her, why would you help her, I love you Draco but…”

He smiled wolfishly at his wife “Random acts of kindness are not in my character?”

She laughed “No my love, they are not.”

He kissed her cheek “This is not random, and it is my responsibility to… it is something that a member of my family needs to make …” he found he could not find the right words.

Ron looked at him hard “I don’t trust you. I don’t like you.” he said plainly.

Draco smirked again “YOU shouldn’t, I don’t much like you Weasley, in case I had not made that clear before today.”

Ron glared at him “But I am going to let you do this because Hermione REALLY doesn’t like you and by the time she is done with you, your inflated ego won’t fit in a thimble, she isn’t that same girl from school.”

Draco’s eyes raised “YOU are going to let me, maybe you should listen to your own words. I doubt anyone allows Granger to do anything.”

Draco turned to his wife, “You OK with this, Tori?”

Astoria nodded “I am, not that you would not have handled those men, but she did come to my aid, I could not even go for my wand without risking Scorpius,” she shuddered, “if you can help her, please do, there was something so sad, so defeated in her. And ask her to have tea with me next week?”

Draco folded her in his arms, “I will ask love but don’t hold your breath. There is no way Granger is going to have tea with anyone carrying the last name Malfoy.”

Astoria smiled, “Don’t be such a pessimist love, people may surprise you.”

He laughed, “Perhaps, you did after all.”

Harry and Ron were a bit surprised that for a moment Malfoy was neither smirking nor snarling just a man very much in love with his wife.

“I will just take my wife home and go talk to her.” Draco picked up the bags his wife had let slip to the ground.

Wanting Hermione found and helped quickly, Harry looked to Astoria, “If you don’t mind, Mrs. Malfoy, Ron and I can escort you home.”

She nodded “It is Astoria, and I don’t mind if Draco doesn’t.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “You couldn’t be safer, the Chosen One risk his reputation by allowing one hair on your head to be damaged? Not in this life time.” His words were sarcastic but Harry noticed his eyes were actually sparkling at his wife.

Harry had never seen this side of Draco before.

Astoria asked “But where will you even find her? She never said where she was going just a very dark place. There are hundreds, thousands of places that could mean.”

The three men laughed, perhaps the first honest laugh the three had ever shared.

“Not to Hermione,” Ron said “that means only one place.”

The three men said in unison “The library.”


	2. Dark Places

**Trigger Warning: Memory of Sexual Assault. No Graphic depictions will ever be given in any of my writing anywhere of sexual violence. Voldemort was a terrible being.**

There was no true “library” in Diagon Alley, but there was Flourish and Blotts, the good proprietors of which kept a special backroom for Hermione where she could go and read and have tea very quietly. This was done not only in honor of her contributions to the wizarding world, but her contributions to their coffers.

“Your tea Miss Hermione.” said the house elf, laying out her favorite teas and small cakes.

“Thank you Lemy” even though Hermione did not really want any tea she did not want to hurt Lemy’s feelings.

“Is Miss Hermione’s guest to be having tea also?” Hermione looked up expecting to see Harry and was shocked to find Draco Malfoy in the doorway.

“No!”

“Yes.”

Both of them spoke at the same time, confusing Lemy.

“Fine, one cup of tea and then go. And I am changing my hobby as of today. Clearly I am too predictable.” She pointed at the chair across from her.

Draco snorted. Like fun the bookwork would stop reading.

No matter what he had tried to explain to his wife about responsibilities or Harry about being an expert, he had no idea why he was here really or what he could possibly hope to accomplish.

Except that Hermione had come to the defense of his wife and son.

She had made that stupid comment about how “vile loathsome evil little cockroaches” might have changed, could have grown into something better.

Not exactly in those words but… had she believed he could have been a better man?

And it was HIS house she was tortured in.

He had a responsibility to come here.

Draco settled himself into the chair across from her, staring at her over the tented tips of his fingers.

She went back to her book. Pointedly ignoring him.

“I can do this all day Granger.” Draco almost smiled at the determined way she was ignoring his presence.

She sighed and sat her book down. “What do you want Malfoy? In case it wasn’t clear I came here to be alone.”

Draco shook his head “That is a lie, how very Slytherin of you Granger.”

Hermione choked on her tea “Excuse me?”

She really had changed, Draco thought, looking in to her cold eyes.

In to someone who looked like they may stab him, not punch him. “You did not come here to be alone, you came here to hide, and that doesn’t sound like something a Gryffindor would do, maybe the Sorting Hat put you in the wrong house.”

Hermione glared at him “What do you think I could possibly have to hide from? I am Hermione Fucking Granger-Weasley. One third of the Golden Trio Vanquisher of All Things….”

He cut her off “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” he unbuttoned his sleeve.

“Don’t, please… just... don’t” she pleaded slightly choking on the word, her eyes going impossibly round.

Draco took in here fear and her panic not understanding either. “I know you have seen the marks before, in court at trial, it was mandatory to…”

Hermione stopped him. “On people who chose them I don’t care, I have never been able to stomach forced marks and carvings. I just… I can’t… please don’t.”

He took his hand from his sleeve. “What makes you think I didn’t choose this Granger?”

Now that he had stopped threatening to roll his sleeve up she felt like she could breathe again. “You were a bully, Malfoy, a horrid child really, but evil? No. Everything you did was to protect your mother and to try to make your father proud. I knew that then. I knew you had not chosen it. But the real reason was the look on your face when Bel..”

Hermione found she still could not say the name without gagging. 

“Your aunt … when she marked me you looked not just horrified but there was a moment when you looked like you were remembering the same thing happening to you. And then I saw it. I saw your initiation. I thought it was an hallucination brought on by pain and terror but after looking into something else I learned about sympathetic magic and I don’t believe that is what happened, I know how you felt about what happened.” Hermione’s eyes were starting to glaze over. Draco was concerned for her sanity.

Draco stared at her in horror.

That was not possible.

There is no way she could have actually seen what she claims to have seen and still allow him in the same room with her. “It WAS just a hallucination Granger…”

“They took you to the Malfoy crypts. It was so dark and terrifying. There was a young girl there, maybe thirteen? Fourteen? Naked. Muggle. I am not sure how I know that, and tied across a tombstone with her arms and legs spread. They had carved runes in to her there was so much blood. They were chanting maybe six or seven men in death eater masks, they forced your mother to watch while…” Draco knew if he let her go on both would relive that night.

“STOP!” He was shaking. Merlin she had witnessed it. The crypts were meant to terrorize the girl. His mother was made to watch him violate and murder the girl to punish Narcissa for some transgression.

If he had refused to perform the ritual, they would both have been killed.

“So I know your mark was no more a choice than mine was.” She whispered, and her eyes were somewhere far away, probably back to that day he realized.

“Granger… Hermione… come back… please ….” Draco pleaded, seeing she was slipping away.

Maybe it was the shock of her given name on his lips, but her eyes found his again and a bit of sanity returned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring all of that up… I just REALLY do not want you to roll up your sleeve.”

He nodded “OK, we will work up to that.”

Hermione’s brows furrowed in confusion “Work up to… what?”

Draco sighed “For the brightest witch of her age Granger you sure do need things repeated a lot. I am not going to leave you back there. Not on your worst day, and sure as hell not on mine. So we will work on it. And maybe exorcize a few demons for both of us.”

Draco had no real idea why he had made that offer. Or what he thought he could possibly do. But he knew he would try.


	3. Healing

And “work on it” is exactly what they did.

Slowly over the next several months.

They returned to his manor. The entire place had been gutted after the war.

No rooms remained that she would remember. All of the old paintings destroyed or removed. The place was redecorated to be warm and inviting.

It was now a home and not a cold brutal place that demanded someone to be tortured for ambiance if nothing else.

They talked.

About the war.

About the people who died.

About those they had killed.

About how the face of every person Hermione killed became the face of Bellatrix LeStrange and how the worst part wasn’t how she had hated it but how she had started to feel justified, even proud of her kills.

Until the war ended and of course and she had to face all of those deaths.

For him it was the opposite. The deaths seemed justified.

At first.

His father and everyone whose opinion he cared about were proud. But then the enormity of the deaths hit him.

The tortured muggles.

The girl in the cemetery.

The way his mother had never been able to quite look him in the eye again. The way his parents had moved out after the war. To Sweden. How they never talked now.

And how pointless it had all been. How she had restored her parents’ memories but it was never the same.

And she had that tea with Astoria.

It became a weekly thing. Even Ron and Harry played nice in the sandbox.

Or in this case, the Quidditch pitch.

And this was mostly so Harry and Draco could finally determine between them who the better seeker truly was.

Two years later and that question was still up for debate when Ginny and Astoria put a stop to it because Harry and Draco were becoming dangerous to themselves reliving glory days,

But the question of the friendship between them was no longer debatable.

The three couple, Ronald and Hermione with their two kids, Rose and Hugo. Harry and Ginny with James and Albus and later Lilly, and Draco and Astoria with Scorpius were constant companions. Albus and Scorpius were best mates immediately.

Plans were made to take over the known world.

That their known world largely consisted of the Burrow, Malfoy Manor and Godrich Hollow did not seem to matter to them.

Rose and Scorpius bickered so much their parents were convinced they would either end up married or sharing a cell in Azkaban.

Or both. Probably both.

And slowly, Draco and Hermione healed the scars in each other’s souls.

The day they could both peel back their sleeves and hold their scars up side by side and decide not to be defined by them any longer was the day they knew they could let the past go.

No one but very close intimates would ever understand why they had gone to a muggle tattoo parlor to get “mudblood” tattooed on Draco’s arm and a small dark mark tattooed on Hermione’s.

It was a testament to their friendship and healing that a burden shared was a burden halved and they had both come to understand this. They would not forget but they would, through each other let go of some of the pain.

No one who had known them in school would have ever believed Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy would ever have come to see each other as family.

He was as close to her as Ron and Harry were.

Every year at the celebration ceremony for the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts Draco and Astoria accompanied them as guests and the assembly was reminded the Malfoys had fought against Voldemort in that final battle.

Draco was grateful because some of the ugly rumors surrounding Scorpius birth began to die down when they started hanging out with the Golden Trio.

He did not want Scorpius attending Hogwarts under the suspicion that he was the child of Voldemort.

Draco had known that a child would weaken Astoria. He had in fact been willing to allow the Malfoy line to die with him. It had been the first time he had truly defied his father.

Of course the demand that he produce an heir coming by owl, from his father’s barrister no less; caused the command to lose some of its bite.

But Astoria knew she would die anyway. That she was never destined for old age. She had wanted him to have someone when she was gone. It had been extremely lonely being Draco Malfoy.

He and Astoria had retired from public life to conserve her strength and so the rumors had started.

The rumor that he and Astoria could not have children so she had gone back in time to be impregnated by Voldemort.

As if his insane Aunt would have allowed Astoria anywhere near Voldemort.

He always suspected it was a jealous Pansy Parkinson that had started them. Pansy had always expected she would be the next Lady Malfoy.

While Harry said repeatedly he could not force the Ministry to refute the claims officially, he would personally shut them down whenever they came up.

Draco wished for more but was grateful none the less.

When Scorpius and Albus and Rose were in their second year at Hogwarts and Astoria began to show signs of the family curse that would claim her life Hermione was broken hearted for her friend and brother.

Hermione had wanted to give the couple space, but Astoria wanted things to continue as normally as possible for as long as possible.

She swore to Astoria that as long as she lived Draco and Scorpius would be her family and she would be the best sister to Draco and Aunt to Scorpius that she could.

She swore it once again to Astoria at her funeral a year later as she held Scorpius’ trembling frame to her heart and promised him he would never be alone while looking Draco in the eye and promising him the same.

She had no way of knowing how this simple heartfelt promise to her dear friends would destroy the life she had built with Ron.

It all started with Quidditch.

And a desire to please Ron. Later she would reflect that was her mistake.

She should have known he was far more pleased in teasing her than with any efforts on her part to improve herself.


	4. Flying Lessons

The fact that Hermione was no fan of flying brooms was well known.

The fact that she knew nothing about Quidditch in spite of the many, many games she had attended was also very well known.

In fact, it had become quite the family joke. It was worse than not being a fan. Hermione was terrified of flying.

Not that she would ever admit that to anyone.

Not heights exactly, but the absurdity of the small fragile looking broom meant to keep her aloft. It was illogical no matter how often she studied the magical theory behind it.

Ron teased her repeatedly about it. Once even going so far as to suggest that it was her muggle upbringing that gave her such an unreasoning fear.

“I have been living in the wizarding world longer than in the muggle world, Ronald.” Hermione had glared at him.

“Well, yea, Mione, but your formative years… you know? Those are all muggle.” His snarky comment earned him a very lonely dinner.

They had made up, but Hermione was reminded that purebloods, even when they were not anti-muggleborn, did not fully understand muggles or believe they could be fully integrated in to wizarding society.

In the spirit of overcoming fears, Hermione decided to surprise Ron for his annual birthday Quidditch game by learning to fly and maybe even join in.

She knew she could not ask Harry or Ginny to teach her, they were both too busy.

Ginny was covering the World Cup and Harry and Ron were in Bulgaria on assignment.

Hermione had feigned illness to avoid going to the World Cup with Ginny.

Her sister in law was sweet, and one of her best friends, but she absolutely could not comprehend how Hermione could have zero interest in the biggest wizarding sporting event.

“Merlin, Hermione, your first boyfriend was Viktor Krum!” Ginny had exclaimed one day.

“He was hardly my boyfriend. We went to one dance and hung out in the library, Gin. And you know it bothers Ron when you say that.” Hermione had sighed, seeing the scowl on her husband’s face.

“Why do you think I do it?” Ginny grinned.

Hermione had laughed as Ron and Ginny started bickering over Ginny’s constant torment.

So to get lessons in flying, and maybe possibly but absolutely no promises, she went to Draco.

Malfoy Manor had its own pitch and Draco had a great deal of experience in helping her overcome fears.

For Draco it gave him something to concentrate on besides the loss of his wife and his crushing loneliness of the last year. 

Scorpius had school and his friends. He had direction and hope in spite of the crushing loss of his mother.

Draco had friends, but no real direction.

Malfoy Industries ran itself with little to no input from him.

House elves, free and paid against their will at Hermione’s insistence ran the manor.

So he happily jumped on the chance to watch Hermione fall on her know it all arse several times a night.

“Granger, it is like you are trying to spare the grass the indignity of living under my rule by carting it away on your backside every night.” He laughed after she had tumbled to the ground once again.

Draco spun her around and dusted the leaves and grass from her robes. “I pay good galleons for my landscaping, Granger. Stop trying to steal it.”

She glared at him “I don’t know how you are supposed to stay upright on these stupid bits of wood, Malfoy!”

They had gone back to last names, but these were no longer said viciously, more like their private nicknames for each other.

“It is called magic, Granger. Perhaps you have heard of it? Someone once told me there were even schools with huge libraries where one might go to study the practice of this noble art.” Draco whispered as if sharing a well hidden secret,

She muttered a word she would have sentenced her children to scrubbing cauldrons without magic for using.

“Tsk, did you learn that word in one of your books, Granger?” He held out his hand towards her after straddling his broom “Here, sit on my broom in front of me.”

Hermione did so.

“Now lean forward into it, don’t tense up, just relax, you keep falling off because when you lean over like that you are signaling that you are ready to park the broom.” He reached around and placed his hands over hers and helped her to steer.

After a half hour she was ready to fly solo a few feet off the ground. When she was done she grabbed his hands and they spun around in circles like a couple of goofy kids.

After which Draco made her climb right back aboard by herself.

Rose, Hugo, Albus and Scorpius had come out to watch Hermione learn.

All three shouted encouraging words.

“No, lean back Mum!” Rose called.

“No, she should definitely lean forward for that maneuver.” Scorpius countered.

Eventually there was an argument that only Albus could settle by telling them absolutely no one gave a shit. Hugo watched fires, he did not put them out.

“Albus Potter!” Hermione glared at her nephew “Language.”

Everyone including Draco looked at her in amazement after the word she had uttered a few minutes ago.

“I am a war hero.” Hermione sniffed “That entitles me to a few swears now and again.

“When are you going to stop playing the war hero card, Granger?” Draco smirked.

“The very moment it stops being effective.” Hermione waved a hand imperiously.

“And they call ME arrogant.” Draco laughed.

‘That is because YOU are arrogant.” Hermione informed him.

“She is right Dad,” Scorpius called out “You are pretty arrogant.”

“Hey!” Draco gave his son a mock glare. “Whose side are you on here?”

Scorpius grinned and popped a piece of cake in his mouth “The one who brings me sweets, Dad.”

“He is definitely YOUR son.” Hermione shook her head laughing.

Draco’s sweet tooth was almost as legendary as Hermione’s fear of flying.

“Was it the blonde hair that gave it away?” Draco feigned ignorance while reaching over and stealing a bite of his son’s cake.

Hermione rolled her eyes and climbed back on the broom.

The lessons had gone on for several weeks. The children usually joined them.

Hermione was never certain whether it was to help or mock her.

The lessons were usually held at night which meant they needed light and warming spells cast.

Ron worked the night shift as an Auror so it would be difficult explaining routine absences during the day.

But February was hardly the ideal time to take flying lessons.

“I do wish your father had been born in the summer instead of spring.” Hermione once sighed to Rose, making her daughter laugh.

“Well, we could always complain to Grandmum about it.” Rose giggled.

“Which would absolutely require that we discuss sex with your grandmother.” Hermione reminded her.

Mother and daughter looked at each other and shuddered.

“Yeah, let’s not do that, Mum.” Rose looked quite seriously at her mother.

‘Deal.” Hermione laughed.

All in all, Hermione was quite pleased with her progress and couldn’t wait to show it off at the next family gathering.

In spite of their jesting, Molly Weasley was the only one Hermione shared her secret with. She needed someone to help her buy the new broom Draco had helped her choose.

Molly had been so proud of her.

It was nice to have a mother figure who understood her progress as a witch.


	5. In Which Ron Ruins Harry's Very Good Day

All in all it had been a good day for one Harry James Potter.

His kids were off at school, and doing a fine job of being in school. Albus after all of his fussing was sorted into Slytherin and had decided he gave that house class. He made the decision he said after Scorpius was sorted into it.

“Can’t have my best mate going off without me, Dad.” Albus had explained his change of heart.

Lilly and James were Gryffindors through and through.

His wife was at home in bed. A wife who had woke him up in a very satisfactory way he remembered with a grin.

It was perfectly fine with him if she was just feeling guilty for having gone to the World Cup without him while he was away on assignment. He was perfectly willing to exploit her guilt for his own ends.

Ginny had laughed when he confessed this to her.

And it was Ron’s turn to file all the paperwork.

Yup, good day.

He decided to go to his best friend’s office with coffee and donuts to rub his lack of paperwork in Ron’s face before helping him with it.

It may be Ron’s turn, but in no way did Harry TRUST him with it. He wanted to keep in Kingsley’s good graces, he needed a week off to take his wife to Italy. And maybe get a few more satisfactory wake up calls. This required proper filing of forms.

He flung open the door to Ron’s office to find him and Hermione in a _very _compromising position. “Merlin, Ron, lock the bloody door would you, I do NOT want to see Hermione’s naked arse propped up on a desk, or anywhere for that matter!”

He slammed the door closed, only then realizing Hermione did not have black hair.

Ron’s assistant did.

Shit. Good day officially over.

He threw the coffee and donuts into the nearest bin and strode off towards his office.

Moments later Ron came rushing out after him. “Harry, wait!”

Harry did not even pause. Just went to his office sat at his desk and stared at the door in a way that should have caused it to burst into flames.

Ron came in. “I can explain Harry.”

Not a word came from Harry. Just the stone cold look he was known for by the other Aurors, not one Ron was used to from him.

“It just happened, mate, a one off thing, Hermione’s been spending all her time with Malfoy and…”

Harry stood up pulling his wand “Give me one good reason Ron, not to hex your bollocks off.”

Ron paled “Years of friendship?”

Harry just stared at him “Are you going to tell Hermione?”

Harry sighed “No Ron, I am not” Ron sagged in short lived relief.

“YOU are.”

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

Ron knew Harry would have his back when he knew the whole story, just maybe now was NOT the best time to tell him that.

He had looked a bit serious about the whole bollocks hexing thing.

Ron trusted Harry. He trusted him with his life, his wife, his kids.

And he trusted that if Harry said he would remove his testicles he would do exactly that.

But Harry did not know the whole story. He knew that he would have to prove it to him.

Hell, at this point prove it to the world just to avoid being lynched. He needed a plan.

But first, he needed a drink.

No good plans come after a drink. Or six… or however many he had, but he had a plan and a vial and wife to speak to.

But he needed a witness. Harry, his best mate would not let him down.

He went home first and fixed his wife’s tea. Then called her to sit with him.

“Ugh Ronald Weasley, you have been drinking.” He smiled easily at her.

“Just a few after work with the boys, love, to celebrate.” Ron handed her the cup of tea “To make it up I made you your favorite tea and invited Harry over for game night.”

Hermione smiled at her tipsy husband “Ronald, I doubt you are in any shape to play games tonight but at least Harry can carry you up to bed.”

It did not occur to Hermione to wonder why Ron had only invited Harry and not Ginny.

Hermione drank her tea waiting for Harry who arrived just a few minutes later by floo. Merlin but Ron was dreadful at making tea, Hermione thought looking dismally into her mug.

Not wanting to hurt her husband’s feelings Hermione gamefully drank the foul brew.

Soon the floo roared to life and Harry stepped out.

“Alright there Ron?” Harry asked warily.

“I am better than alright Harry, you are going to see I am not the monster here.” Ron waved his hand at Hermione, “A little slip of the hand” he pulled out a vial “and now she will tell you everything she has been up to with that git Malfoy”

Harry’s eyes grew wide “You drugged Hermione with veritaserum?! That is illegal and immoral Ronald Weasley, they will have your badge for this, you could face time!”

Ron looked stunned and guilty, he had not expected this reaction from his best mate. “But…but Harry ask her what she has been up to with Malfoy, she was cheating first, weren’t you? All that time you spent alone with Malfoy letting him put his arms around you?” Ron sneered at his wife.

Hermione looked him in the eye “I was taking flying lessons so I could join your birthday Quidditch match as a surprise; I even bought my own broom.” 

Ron’s eyes narrowed “She beat it somehow, Harry, she is …”

Harry glared at him “Even if she could, and she can’t, she would have to know her own husband was going to drug her.”

Ron looked confused and shook his head “But no Harry, this is all wrong, what else was she doing? There are pictures of him with his arms around her and his hands all over her!” Ron threw down some pictures clearly taken at Malfoy Manor.

Harry looked at them “All these show are him steadying her on the broom, Ron and dusting her off, no more sexual than Madame Hooch teaching Neville to fly, are you suggesting Neville and Hooch had something going on?”

Ron was starting to look more ill by the moment. His eyes flew to Hermione panicked, desperate “You can admit it, I will forgive you, I swear, just tell me what went on between you and Draco and I can tell you about me and Cecilia and we can put this all behind us and forget it ever happened.”

Hermione looked at him square in the eye “The only thing veritaserum makes me do is tell the truth. I have never had any type of affair with Draco. But clearly you have had one with your assistant. I will never forgive you for that and I will never forgive you for drugging me and taking away my free will. What comes next Ronald? Imperius? Cruciatus? Would you like to carve “Adulteress” somewhere on my body?”

Ron looked horrified, Harry looked sick and furious. 

Hermione turned tearfully to Harry staring at the floor “Take me away from here Harry. Please.”

Harry took her hand and led her outside to side apparate. “Don’t move Ron, we are going to talk when I get back.”

Harry took Hermione to his flat to stay with Ginny while he went back to Ron to discuss the serious crime his friend and fellow Auror had perpetrated this night on his own wife and Harry’s best friend.

Ron was Harry’s best friend, as well of course, but so was Hermione. And she had done nothing wrong. She had tried to surprise and please her husband. He had used a potion on her illegally, a fact that as an Auror he could not ignore and brought back a traumatizing experience for her.

Before Harry could leave Ginny wanted a full explanation as to why Hermione looked drugged and was sobbing.

As Hermione explained Ginny went to the floo and summoned her mother to also hear the story.

Molly started screaming for Arthur.

His peaceful home of that morning was now gone.

Damned it Ron. What in Merlin’s name were you thinking? Harry groaned to himself. Ron had done some foolish things in the past, but this was completely out of character. Harry would not have believed it if Ron had not told him personally that he had used to truth potion on Hermione.

It was now absolutely official. Good day officially shot to shit.


	6. Furious Weasleys

As a furious Ginny had already riled up the clan, by the time he returned to Ron’s house it was full of even more furious Weasley’s.

He had the feeling he’d arrived just in time to save what little there was left worth of Ron’s hide.

Molly looked ready to perform a very late contraceptive spell to prevent Ron’s birth.

Harry didn’t blame her, he rather wanted to take a time turner back and prevent Ron’s birth himself.

He berated himself for the traitorous thought, but in his defense it had started out as a VERY good day…

Ron’s father, a man Harry had seen look angry only a handful of times appeared ready to do his son bodily harm.

And even George looked sober and serious.

That could not be a good sign.

“You really fouled this one up you right stupid git” George was saying as Harry flooed in “You have lost your wife, probably your job and if I understand the law correctly in return may well have gained a comfy cell in Azkaban. Well done old boy. Hope the shag was worth it.”

Ron looked miserable… more miserable.

And Molly did not correct George’s crude comment.

Definitely not a good sign.

Harry crossed to lay a hand on Arthurs shoulder and kiss Molly on the cheek.

Ron glared at Harry “Did you have to tell them about Cecilia?”

Harry sighed wearily “As if I have got a word in edgeways all night, Ron.”

Harry sat down at the table and took a deep pull from the flask of firewhiskey George slid to him.

Nodding his thanks he turned back to Ron “I know things are in a bad way, but don’t put this one on me.”

“Well, if you had not insisted I confess to Hermione about Cecilia…” Ron began, but was interrupted by his mother.

Molly turned beet red “Don’t you DARE blame this on Harry, Ronald Billius Weasley! This is entirely YOUR doing.”

Ron slunk down in his chair “Well, he did insist and besides, how else could George have known?”

George snorted “I didn’t, but what else could have made you do something as stupid as putting an illegal potion in your wife’s tea. How could that have EVER gone well, by the way? This isn’t some stupid bint! This is Hermione Granger, without whom neither one of you would have survived to make it to fourth year let alone the Battle of Hogwarts.” This started a round of murmuring of agreement and one dissention, from Ron.

“Quiet” Arthur Weasley said loudly. Everyone stopped and looked at him. “Where do we go from here, Harry, I assume the Auror Department takes a dim view of these actions, even assuming _you_ could ignore it, and we certainly would not ask you to, I doubt Hermione will.”

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose “I have given that some thought. You are correct, I cannot ignore it. The best we can hope for is to keep it out of the press and Ron out of prison.”

Ron moaned. “But I have pictures…”

No one was interested in Ron’s pictures.

“You are going to have to resign with a plausible reason Ron, there is nothing for it. Kingsley will agree to that I think, but it needs to be a damned good reason.”

Arthur nodded, “That seems fair Harry.”

Molly wiped tears from her eyes, as furious as she was Ron was still her youngest son and she did not want him in prison. “Oh Harry… do you really think that could work?”

“I am really not certain, Molly.” Harry admitted. “The use of veritaserum is incredibly restricted. And to use a position of authority to force a spouse to submit to your will…”

“That’s a bit harsh…” Ron attempted to defend himself.

No one was interested in his defense either.

George spoke up “I could use a partner at Weasleys Wizard Wheezes, we want to open a few more branches, but we need help, and a sizable monetary contribution, of course.”

Ron slumped but nodded. “This all depends on Kingsley agreeing and one other sticking point.” Harry continued “You have to get Hermione to agree not to press charges and the way she left here… she sees you as bad as any Death Eater she ever encountered.”

Ron went white and Molly sobbed.

“Will you talk to her Harry?” Arthur asked quietly “I know we have no right to ask...”

Harry looked tired suddenly and older than he really was “You have every right to ask Arthur, you are the closest thing to a family I have ever known even before we became family, it is what we do, even when a member of that family acts like an enormous arse. I will go speak to her now. I won’t press at the moment.” He assured Molly who looked ready to protest “I will just sort of feel it out.”

Molly flung herself in to Harry’s arms weeping. It was a few minutes before he could finally pass her on to Arthur who looked ready to weep himself.

Harry decided to take a walk to the nearest pub to floo home. He needed the time to cool off himself and to think about the approach he would take with Hermione.

There was no doubt she was a victim in this. And yet… Ron had genuinely believed she had been unfaithful. They all knew Ron had a bit of a hot head. Harry knew Ron would never be violent with his wife. Even if morals would not stop him, and Harry knew they would, a healthy fear of death and dismemberment would.

He flooed home only to find Hermione gone and Ginny had no idea where she went or when she had left only that she said she was going to sleep in the guest room and she had not disturbed her again.

A search of their home and grounds and even a tour of Godrick’s Hollow showed Hermione was nowhere on their property. Or in town.

“Fan-freaking-tastic.” Harry grumbled. Sitting at their kitchen table with his head in his hands. “I have actually and literally lost my best friend. Or to be more specific, my wife lost her. I am not really sure which is worse.”

“I am certain you will find a way to make it worse that I lost her, my love.” Ginny grinned.

“I am glad you can find humor in this, Hermione is distraught and MISSING! Do you suppose she could be at Flourish and Botts? Or maybe she would have gone back to Hogwarts to hide in the library…?” There really were very few places Hermione would go unless she decided to take up drinking.

In which case he would have seen her at the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry stood up to go check every bookstore and library in London and Scotland. By Merlin’s shaggy beard he would find his best friend!

“Or for… Harry, sit down. There is only one place Hermione would have gone right now.” Ginny was grinning, but Harry couldn’t figure out why.

“You know where she is?! Did she tell you? Have you been watching me make myself crazy for fun?!” Harry was annoyed and relieve

And just a teensy bit ready to snog that smug look right off of his wife’s face.

That was one of the perils of being a parent with a houseful of very inquisitive children. You take your “inspiration” where you can find it.

Harry was a tiny bit ashamed that he was feeling inspired. But only a tiny bit.

“You like to be driven crazy worrying. It is the only explanation for you becoming an Auror after school. But no,” Ginny kissed the top of his head “She did not tell me where she was going. But all of her friends except one are in this house or hers. You tell me where YOU think she went.”

Harry sighed, partially in relief, partially in exasperation “Draco.”

Ginny nodded her head smiling “Yes, my love. Draco.”

Harry was not quite sure whether to be relieved or more worried. Maybe his wife was right. Maybe he did just like to worry.

Hermione going to Draco was normal, natural. It didn’t mean anything.

Ginny was correct, Draco was Hermione’s only other friend.

His self chatter did nothing to reassure him.


	7. Hermione in Distress

Draco woke up to one of the house elves telling him that Miss Hermione was downstairs in distress.

“Take her to the parlor Tabby and get her tea, or firewhiskey or whatever she wants I will be right down.” Draco was in a near panic, was it one of the kids? Had something happened to Harry or Ron on assignment? What in Merlin’s name could bring her here at; he cast a time spell, one o’clock in the morning?

He barely got dressed; he threw on his robe and slippers, and made sure he was decent enough in case Aurors needed to come ask questions, or heelers or whatever the emergency was.

Distress did not come close to describing the state he found Hermione in. She was pulled up in a fetal position rocking back and forth. Tears were streaming down her face but other than a low pitched moan she was saying absolutely nothing..

He was certain looking at her that someone had died or been seriously injured.

When he asked if he should call someone, Harry or Ron she looked at him so broken he knew that was not the right question and he did not miss her wedding ring sitting on his table.

Merlin what had Weasley done this time?

He picked her up, took her to the couch, levitated a blanket around them and rocked her gently until she finally broke and started genuinely sobbing. Before she was done his robe and pajama top were soaked through and he had dried them twice. It was an hour before she could form coherent words enough to tell him what had happened.

As angry as he was, and he was bloody furious, Draco held it in. He would deal with the fact that the Weasel had someone spying at the manor and taking pictures, bloody hell! The scandal could wreck everything he had been working to rebuild, but he knew right now she just needed a friend; the rest could wait until later, when he would pull the bastard apart limb by limb.

He stroked her hair while she calmed herself. “I can’t go back there Draco.”

He pressed his face into her curls “You don’t have to, you can stay here.”

Hermione laughed a little “Now that WOULD cause a scandal” as if reading his thoughts from earlier.

“We don’t have to decide anything tonight, Granger, Tabby will take you to bed and get your things for you. She will bring you a sleeping drought so you can get a good night’s sleep. You will call in tomorrow and we will figure this out together.” He stroked her hair comfortingly.

She buried herself closer to his chest and under his chin and nodded “Could we stay like this awhile? I don’t want to be alone.”

Something in his chest tightened at that and he pulled her closer making her the same promise she once made him “You will never be alone, Granger.”

Hermione laughed through her tears. “When will you stop calling me Granger”

A traitorous stray thought crept up on him by surprise _only when I call you mine._

~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~

Harry knew he should not have been surprised when the Malfoy house elf showed up asking for Miss Hermione’s things. Of course she went to Draco. As Ginny pointed out, everyone else she knew was connected to Ron.

Harry knew there was nothing between Draco and Hermione (before now, he worried) but he wished she had stayed with him anyway he was her best friend, she needed him.

“Why didn’t you go to Miss Hermione’s house, Tabby?” Harry asked the little elf.

The house elf’s eyes narrowed “The Weasley is there. He hurt Miss Hermione. Made her cry, but I am forbidden by Mr. Draco to harm him so I comes to Harry Potter to get her things so I am not tempted.”

Harry sighed. He remembered when Lucius Malfoy had tried to hex him in front of Dobby and the thrashing the older Malfoy had taken for it. A free elf was a powerful and dangerous foe. While not all of the elves wanted Hermione’s brand of help, all recognized she had their best interest at heart and truly cared about them. They would seek retribution against any who harmed her. And for those who had accepted freedom? Those elves tended to be fanatically loyal to her even when that freedom had been forced upon them. He knew he had better go along. Tabby apparated them to the Weasley household.

Ron looked up sober and much the worse for wear. “Well Harry, did you talk to her?”

Harry sighed, what a mess “Not exactly Ron, just her messenger.” Harry waved a hand towards Tabby.

“Wait is that the Malfoy house elf?!” Tabby glared at him and crossed her arms “I is having a name Weasley, it is Tabby, and I is here to get Miss Hermione’s things. I is only to harm you if absolutely necessary, but I will bring Miss Hermione’s things to her.”

Ron’s eyes went wide as Tabby disappeared and they could hear what sounded like every article of clothing and book Hermione owned being packed.

“You see Harry? She went to HIM!” Ron sounded desperate for vindication.

Harry rubbed his face; “Where else did you think she would go Ron? Everyone else is related to YOU! Do you think Ginny and I did not want her to stay with us? She is my best friend! After what you did I am not 100% certain I still want to call YOU my friend. Family, yes, brother, yes, friend, right now not so much.”

Ron grimaced and looked at the floor saying nothing.

“But don’t you dare blame her for going to her one friend that is not related to you.” Harry felt bad for Ron, but he needed to know where Harry stood.

“But what if he has something more than friendship in mind?” Ron asked miserably.

“And if that friendship turns in to something more? Good for them, because Merlin knows they both deserve something good and decent after everything that has happened, and I sure as hell hope you pull your head out of your arse so one day you can deserve that too.” Harry realized he actually meant what he was saying. What hell was this that he was wishing Hermione would end up with DRACO? Damned Ron.

“You really don’t think she is going to forgive me, do you Harry?”

“No Ron, I really, really don’t. Not for a very long time. And I don’t believe she is ever going to return here as your wife.” Harry was horrified and saddened for his two best friends, but he knew what he was saying was true.


	8. Visitors

In the end she stayed.

Not that Draco had given her much choice.

Tabby had come home that night and he instructed her to set up the west wing for Hermione and that was that. It had a private drive and entrance, the home office she would need and realistically there was no reason for her not to.

Within the week she was completely settled in and her case files cluttered her office there so thoroughly you would think she had been working there a year not a week.

She and Draco had begun taking their meals together. Neither usually talked much, both were usually too caught up in their work. The silence wasn’t angry or awkward the way she had come to realize her and Ron’s dinners had become without the kids as a buffer. It was companionable.

Hermione had talked Draco into charity work. There was still a lot to be done after all. The Malfoy funds had more than recovered their losses from the war under his management and he had a knack for managing which some of these charities desperately needed.

Occasionally they consulted one another on a project they were working on. Hermione knew a great deal about rights for magical creatures and Draco had insight into magical law enforcement cases she could not get elsewhere.

She ignored every single one of Ron’s owls. Finally Harry had come to see her personally.

“Mione, you have to talk to him. I can understand if you don’t want to go back to him, but can you really stand to see one of your oldest friends in prison?” Harry pleaded.

Hermione glared at Harry “IF I don’t want to go back? Really Harry? IF? He stole my free will. He is a complete and utter arse. A disgrace to the Ministry. And…”

“And he is the father of your children.” Draco said quietly from the doorway.

“Harry, what do you want from me? Do you want me to ignore my position as an Improper Use of Magic officer? Because I can’t do that. Even if it had not been me he drugged, what he did was illegal. And immoral.” Harry could hardly disagree. He had said the very same things directly to Ron.

In the end she agreed to meet with Ron only if Draco and Harry were both present. Harry barely talked her out of demanding Kingsley be there as well for the initial meeting. All she would agree to was not calling him in at the outset.

Later that day Hermione had another visitor in the form of Ron’s mistress, Cecilia.

Draco had not intended to tell Hermione that Cecilia had shown up. If she had not walked in to the study as he was telling Tabby to get rid of the witch, she would never have had to know.

Smiling at him she said teasing, but with a tinge of something deeper “Draco, you don’t have to make a date leave just because I am here. Please go about your regular life.”

“A date…? Hermione, I don’t have a date, or a regular life. What are you on about?” He looked meaningfully at Tabby who tried to sneak out around Hermione’s legs.

Noticing something odd going on Hermione put a hand on the elf’s shoulder. “A moment, Tabby. Draco, what is going on?”

Was it his parents? Hermione was not certain she could face the pair.

With a sigh Draco nodded at Tabby who came back in. “Ron’s assistant is at the door.”

“As in…” Hermione hesitated “the assistant who…?”

“Indeed.” Draco tried to gauge Hermione’s state of mind.

“Well, by all means, Tabby, don’t keep her waiting.” Hermione sat across from Draco.

“Is Mistress certain? I can make her go away.” The fierceness in Tabby’s voice would have been amusing if Hermione wasn’t fairly certain that “go away” was a euphemism in Tabby-speak for “Disappear and no one will ever hear from her again.”

“Yes Tabby, I am certain.” Looking at Draco she asked timidly “Will you stay?

“Try to get rid of me and see how that goes for you.” He crossed his arms and glared at the door Tabby had just exited.

Tabby brought in a rather nervous young woman. Too young. What had Ron been thinking?

Although looking at the girls figure what he had been thinking with was pretty obvious.

“Is there a reason you have come here to our private home?” Draco asked coldly.

Looking at him out of the corner of her eye Cecilia said “I am so sorry Mr. Malfoy, I… didn’t know what to do or where to turn… Ron won’t return my owls and…”

“And you thought you would come here and harass the wife he cheated on with you?” Hermione had not heard this scathing tone from him since hey had been in school. She had to admit, it was impressive when you weren’t on the receiving end of it.

“I am sorry Hermione…” Cecilia started.

Deciding to take a page out of Draco’s book she replied coldly “I was not aware we were on a first name basis.”

“I am sorry Miss…” Cecilia tried again.

“Mrs. That would be Mrs. Granger-_Weasley_.” Hermione noticed Draco’s jaw tighten. He did hate to be reminded that her name was still attached to Ron’s. Such a good friend.

“Mrs. Granger Weasley I meant to say…” Cecilia’s face turned red “but please… Ron told me that your marriage had been long over. That you were sleeping in different rooms and that he was desperately unhappy…”

“And you were ignorant enough to believe him?” Hermione sneered, “Unhappy men leave.”

“He said that you were emotionally fragile and he didn’t dare…” Cecilia looked close to tears.

“Do I LOOK emotionally fragile?” Hermione looked at Draco. “Do I?”

“No, Mione,” Draco used her nickname on purpose “I would say you look perfectly strong enough to me. Furious, but strong.”

Hermione nodded firmly.”You were stupid enough to believe that the Ministry would allow an officer so emotionally fragile to remain in a very active position in the Improper use of Magic department?”

“I… did not think that through.” Cecilia admitted.

“Exactly why have you come here?” Hermione had enough of this foolish woman and this entire conversation.

“I… I am with child Mrs. Granger-Weasley… and Ron won’t return my owls… I have been dismissed from my post… and I don’t know what to do…” Cecilia placed a hand protectively over her stomach.

“Congratulations… precisely how is this my concern?” Under any other circumstances Hermione would have leapt at the chance to assist a woman with child down on her luck. These were not those circumstances.

“I thought perhaps you might persuade Ron to step up. After all… this child is the sibling of your children and…” Cecilia stopped at the furious look on Hermione’s face.

“You want ME to tell MY husband to do right by YOU?” Hermione gasped in outrage.

“Actually, legally Mione, you may not have a choice.” Draco looked coldly at Cecilia.

“I beg your pardon?” Was he playing some sort of cruel joke Hermione wondered.

“Legally the child is yours. As the law reads, any child born of a marriage is legally the child of the married couple, no matter who it is born to. It is a pureblood thing. It allows the family to add new blood.” The wicked grin on his face told Hermione that Cecilia would soon come to regret coming here.

“So legally…” Hermione asked, deciding to play his game “I could have the child placed in my custody? Hmmmm….”

Cecilia gasped “Surely you wouldn’t…”

“Leave. Do not return. I don’t want to see you again.” Hermione stood, signaling an end to the conversation.

Draco stood as well “I will have a sum of money sent to you. It will be enough to leave this country and not return. I suggest you take that opportunity to never allow Hermione or me to see you again.

Cecilia fled before Draco could change his mind.

“Now I know why you were such a foul git as a child.” Hermione grinned. "Sometime it is just the thing to make you feel better.


	9. What Were We Fighting For

One week later, Ron and Harry both showed up and Draco took them to his study. Ron looked like hell. Draco was glad and told him so, earning him a dark look.

“Don’t blame me Weasley, I was doing a nice thing for your birthday and you sent spies to my house to create a scandal for me and my son after all he has already suffered. You should count yourself grateful that I am not pressing charges for trespassing.” They were waiting for Hermione to come down.

Ron paled, he had never considered that, “But I didn’t…”

Draco ignored him and went on “The only reason I am not is for Rose and Hugo’s sake; I don’t want them to watch their father hauled off to jail, it is devastating to a child.”

Ron sneered “Well you would know.”

No one had seen Hermione come in she laid a hand on Draco’s shoulder “Yes, he would. Thank you for considering my children, Draco.” He nodded at her.

Tabby came in at the moment “Would mistress like tea for her guests?” Hermione’s eyes softened as she looked at her fierce little defender, she knew the house elf really just came in to check on her.

Draco smirked as well, this was HIS employee, and here she was going to someone else first for orders, how had his household got so out of control in such a short time? But he knew Tabby’s motives so he just ignored it.

“Yes Tabby that would be lovely, Thank you.” Tabby beamed “I will bring you the biscuits I know are your favorites Mistress.”

Ron was furious. “So now this is your home with your very own servants is it? I guess you finally got accepted in to pureblood society.”

Hermione just stared at him coldly and evenly. Her tears were for later, when she was alone. “Tabby is my friend, not my servant. How DARE you?”

At that moment the little elf came back with the tea and served them taking Hermione’s hand in gratitude for the comment and glaring at Ron.

Hermione leaned down to her “Tabby would you please check on Dimmy? He says his back is no longer hurting him but he refuses to use the salve I gave him and he won’t rest.”

Tabby nodded solemnly “Yes mistress, I will go see to him.” she glared a warning at Ron before she left.

“We are not here to discuss my living arrangements or my friends. We are here because you asked to meet with me before I went to Kingsley with my concerns about your abuse of your authority as an Auror and your illegal use of a controlled potion, veritaserum on an unwilling and unknowing subject without a warrant: me.”

Ron swallowed hard. This was the Improper Use of Magic Officer others had come to know and fear. Hermione Granger-Weasley had never failed to get a conviction. “Mione…please…” she stared at him coldly again “If you have something to say to me Ronald say it. Anything that could possibly mitigate this.”

“Hermione please don’t throw out our entire lives for one stupid mistake.”

“Two if you are counting.”

“OK, two… two horrendously stupid mistakes, you are better than this. You are more forgiving than this. Look at Malfoy here, he tormented your entire childhood and now he is your best friend, are you saying I am not worth a second chance?”

Draco actually thought he had a fair point, not that he would ever tell him that and wondered how she would respond.

“I hope you have something better than that up your sleeve Ronald. I separated the boy he was that I intensely disliked who was a bully and everything foul about the Wizarding world from the man he became that has become everything right about it. Second chances and hope that there can be more, that we don’t have to be defined by our past that.” She waved her arms around to encompass the entirely transformed manor “That we CAN tear it all down and start over if we want to badly enough.”

All three men stared at her stunned. None more so than Draco himself. He had no idea she felt that way. It was… humbling.

“Now I find I have to live up to those standards. I won’t press charges. If Draco won’t cause a scandal for our children neither will I. But I have to separate the boy you were that I loved and admired the strength and courage of, from the man you are today who has also shown me, sadly, that we CAN tear it all down and start over if we want to badly enough. We will need to go Hogwarts and let the children know, as I intend to start divorce proceedings and the press will find out. I want them to hear it from us first.”

“And Ron, Cecilia came to see me.” Ron glanced at her sharply, “Congratulations. You are going to be a father again. She is about three months along.”

~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~

That night, Hermione leaned over the balcony, resting her forearms on the rail overlooking the gardens. It was all so quiet. Like always she knew when he came up behind her, knew his step separate and distinct from one of the elves or anyone else’s.

“It all just seems so pointless sometimes. We fought a war for what? The bigotry the hate, they are all still there, no one changed their minds. All we ever accomplished was to kill a bunch of people. The world never changed.”

He rested his hands on her waist. “You thought you were changing the world?”

Hermione leaned back against him, surprising both of them. Neither of them had this type of intimacy for a long time Draco because of the death of his wife, and Hermione, as she was beginning to realize, the slow death of her marriage. Neither one commented on it, but neither pulled away.

“Yes, that was the point, what other reason could there possibly have been to fight if we didn’t want to change things to make them better? I guess that seems naïve to you. What were you fighting for?”

He pulled her back against his chest and placed his hand across her stomach “I fought for survival. Your way does sound naïve. But so much better.”

“I don’t know about “better” it wasn’t like we had much choice. We had been fighting that war since literally first year.”

He frowned. “That can’t be right... I mean I know it must seem like it..”

“No, we faced down Voldemort in the first year and stopped him from rising then.” Hermione assured him.

Draco still flinched at the name. “Tell me…”

So she did. Every year, every task every horror they had faced down again and again. Draco could not believe the number of times they had come face to face with the Dark Lord and walked away, as children! She stated these tales in such a matter of fact tone with no boasting that he knew they were the truth.

“I have no idea what to say Hermione. It sounds like every adult in your life failed you. How did they justify throwing you against those horrors time and time again? Potter had his protections, but you had…what? A fucking school library?”

She laughed a bit “In their defense it was a very GOOD library. It was war Draco. No one wanted to admit it, but we were at war. You use the tools you have. I imagine it was the same way the adults in your life justified using you. That’s why Harry never really hated you, you know” This was a surprise to Draco, he assumed their truce was rather new. ”He saw you as being in the same boat as himself, just on the other side. Anyway...it worked though. We survived it. And even more, we won. I doubt anyone really thought we would Prophecy or no prophecy.”

“Hermione… what you said to Harry and Ron…I really don’t know what to say.”

She shrugged “Then say nothing, it doesn’t require a statement. Ron was right. You are my best friend. Harry is... but it’s different with Harry, he is my brother. “_The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb_” you and I don’t have that kind of relationship. If Harry stood behind me like this on a balcony with his arm around my middle it would just be creepy.”

Draco sighed “I am sorry Ron turned in to such a shit. That he told all of those lies to get into that girls robes.”

“Well… they weren’t exactly all lies…” Hermione admitted. “We hadn’t been sharing a bed for a long time. We told ourselves it was because we worked such different hours but…”

“I… I see…” He didn’t the thought of having a wife and not sharing a bed with her was beyond Draco’s comprehension.

Hermione knew he didn’t “see” at all. “You know you really are a terrible liar for a Slytherin.

He smiled and pulled her closer, she laid her head back.

They stayed like that for a long time with her head on his chest. They had talked so long they were now watching the sun rise. It was nice, Hermione thought to herself.


	10. Mere Mortals

When Hermione arrived at Hogwarts she was greeted by a much subdued Neville who led her to his office.

“Tea? Biscuit?” Neville offered.

“No, thank you, but a strong brandy later might be just the thing.” Hermione looked longingly at the carved crystal bottle on the edge of Neville’s desk.

“Anything you need Mione.” Hermione reflected on how mature Neville had become since his appointment as Headmaster.

“I will go and retrieve Ron, help yourself to whatever you want.” Neville saw to her comfort before taking his leave.

Sitting alone in Dumbledore, well, now Neville’s office brought back a lot of memories for Hermione, both good and bad.

Warnings about using the time turner and not seeing herself, assurances that her obliviated parents would be taken care of and a feeling that everything would be alright because someone was in charge.

Now that someone was supposed to be her.

While waiting for the children to be brought up she looked at the portrait of Dumbledore who was appraising her over his half moon glasses.

“Were you ever afraid that you were going to make the wrong call? That no matter what you did it was going to go wrong?” Hermione asked with a defeated sigh.

His eyes twinkled “All the time Miss Granger, most often in the little things since they happened more frequently than the earth shattering decisions. Every time a child walked out of here hopeful that some pithy little saying of mine would save the day. I was terrified that I had mixed up two words that would cause chaos. Not all of us were the brightest wizards and witches of their age you know. Some of us had to make do with being mere mortals.”

Hermione gave a watery laugh and felt much better.

“Right. Merely mortal. And adult.” These were the problems of the adult world. “In this very moment I would have gladly trade this for hunting horcruxs.”

“I can see where that may seem like the safer and saner choice.” Dumbledore looked down at Hermione sympathetically. “It may seem a poor reminder Hermione, but this too shall pass.”

“I do suppose it will.” Hermione agreed but privately thought to herself that he was correct. It was a poor reminder in the moment.

Neville finally returned with Ron, stopping to issue instructions to someone at the door.

The two had not spoken since Ron’s visit to Malfoy Manor. Since Hermione had informed her husband he was expecting a child with another woman. Shhe found she had nothing to say to him now.

A few awkwardly silent minutes later Rose and Hugo entered the room.

“You wanted to see us Professor?” started Hugo, proper as always.

“Hugo, this is in private, we get to still call him Uncle Neville in private.” Rose giggled.

Hugo sighed “School property is not private Rose…”

Both pulled up short when they saw their parents, hesitating before venturing further in to the room.

The fear on their faces made Hermione’s heart ache.

“Mum? Dad?” Started Rose feeling a little uneasy, she moved closer to her younger brother, reaching out to take his hand. “Everything alright there?”

Hugo took in his mother’s pale face, the tight lines of his father’s mouth “No Rosie, I really don’t think it is.”

Hugo squeezed Rose’s hand, noticing she was going to start hyperventilating. Rose turned a frightened and sad face on her brother but seemed at a loss for words.

“Breathe Rosie, we talked about this.”

Their parents were confused by the odd direction the conversation seemed to have taken.

“Talked about what Hugo?” Hermione asked

“You are finally getting divorced right?” Rose squeaked out.

Ron and Hermione looked stunned.

“Good Godrick, Rosie! Why would you assume that we are getting a divorce sweetheart?” Asked Ron.

_Because we are?_ Thought Hermione, but kept her thoughts to herself.

The look Rose turned on him was positively venomous.

_Dear Merlin_ Hermione’s heart sank in anguish for her angry daughter. _They know_.

Ignoring his parents for a moment Hugo looked Neville, breaking his self-imposed protocol for a moment. “Uncle Neville, may I ask Scorpius to come in?”

Neville nodded, Hermione realized that Neville had said nothing since returning to the room. He had just looked sad and very solemn.

Hugo stuck his head around the corner “Scorp, take Rose to Lily please and bring back the lock box.”

Scorpius did not look at Ron but came forward and hugged Hermione, and whispered to her “It’s going to be OK, Dad and I have your back, and you know that right?”

Hermione was too stunned to speak.

Scorpius gathered Rose and left.

“Don’t worry Mum, they are only at the bottom of the stairs.” Hermione nodded stunned at how mature her son was acting.

“Hugo…” started Ron when Neville finally spoke up.

“Ron, it may be best to wait until Scorpius comes back, I had intended to call you in today myself if you had not asked for this meeting, the children only brought this to me last night.” Neville’s serious expression was starting to frighten Hermione.

She was certain a large piece of the puzzle was missing. What it could possibly be was beyond her ability to grasp.

Scorpius returned with a box handed it to Hugo and said “I’ll be downstairs mate, Albus and I are here if you need anything, but right now I need to take care of Rose.”

Ron turned very red in the face “Another Malfoy thinking he can do my job for me, and why do you think you can take care of _my daughter_ better than her parents can right now Malfoy Jr.?”

As Harshly as Ron was speaking one might have been tempted to think he had never met Scorpius. In spite of him being the son of what was, just a mere few weeks ago one of his good friends and a boy he had known from infancy.

Scorpius looked at him very calmly; even politely “That is not for me to say sir.” he looked at Neville “May I be excused Professor Longbottom?”

Neville nodded and waived a hand.

Hugo had to stop himself from smirking. Scorpius only became that polite when he was restraining himself from blowing up.

Very carefully Hugo began opening the small ornate box

He began disabling several spells and curses he had placed on it, they looked incredibly complex.

Hermione was very impressed in spite of the circumstances. No matter what happened moving forward she could be proud of this part of her marriage. Her children were not perfect, but they were perfect for her.

Hugo withdrew a stack of small square papers. He was handling them as though they were something foul. After Hugo turned them over Ron and Hermione could see they were photographs.

Hermione knew whatever images these photographs contained would be the final nail in the coffin of her marriage. Not that a pregnant mistress had not effectively cut off all hope of reconciliation already.

“First,” Hugo began explaining “we received these. We thought they were from you at first Mum and had planned to frame them for Dad’s birthday.”

They were the same photos Ron had received.

“You didn’t think they were inappropriate” Ron snarled .

“No, why would I” Hugo asked looking genuinely perplexed.

“They look …” Ron seemed at a loss for words “Compromising”

Hugo looked disgusted with his father “If you are suggesting what I think you are about my mother, and you better not be, I doubt she would have been “compromised” with her children present.”

Ron looked stunned “What?!” He shouted his face turning red.

“We were there watching, it was actually pretty funny and not at all inappropriate. But then we got more pictures. These were a lot less… innocent.” Ron looked at Hermione with a smug look.

“Care to explain these Dad?” Hugo asked with pure venom.

Ron’s face lost its smug look and went very pale.

Hermione was ready to vomit the tea she had just had onto Neville’s desk.


	11. Photographs

Hugo had tossed the pictures on the desk with disgust.

They were of Ron and Cecilia, in very compromising positions. Some were obviously taken while Ron and Cecilia were engaged in sexual activities taken in hotel rooms, in his office and other locals.

Inappropriate to be sent to his children.

Or anyone’s children Ron suddenly seemed to recall that Scorpius had seen these and felt ashamed of how he had spoken to him.

Some less vulgar pictures were taken while clearly on dates in muggle restaurants and other muggle establishments.

These made Hermione feel much worse. It had not been just sex in his office. The marital betrayal version of scratching an itch.

These were dates. A relationship existed between the two of them.

Dates held while Ron was complaining that she woke him up when she came to bed. Complaints that forced her to make the decision to sleep in separate bedrooms. She did not want him going out on assignment as an Auror sleep deprived.

Hermione could not help but wonder if Ron had brought his assistant into the bed they once shared. In to their very home. The one where they had brought home their children from the hospital as beautiful newborns.

Shaking herself from these unwholesome images Hermione noticed Neville staring at her sympathetically.

It became clear why Hugo and Scorpius wanted Rose removed from the room. Neither parent wanted Hugo in the room holding those images.

Hermione looked ill, Rom looked stunned and ashamed.

With a wave of his hand and a few murmured words Hugo replaced the pictures and the wards and handed the box to his mother. “These are yours mother. Please believe me when I say I never wanted you to see any of this, but they were accompanied by a note demanding that Scorpius steal certain items room his father’s home or they would be published. After careful consideration, we realized this is not a decision we can make on our own.”

Hermione was so proud of the children for coming forward. She also had a sneaking suspicion they had searched Malfoy Manor and realized that those items were no longer stored there, these were HER children after all. But she would take her victories where she could find them.

“Neville I will be using the Room of requirement” he nodded “Ron, you might wish to remove yourself from my reach. Hugo, gather the others and meet me on the 7th floor in two hours for a family meeting please.”

Hermione walked very calmly to the Room of Requirement asking nothing more of it than a place to vent her frustrations and hurt and anger.

What she found was the same training grounds they had used for Dumbledore’s Army. She quickly stripped and got in to the training gear and took her frustrations out on the very animated and life like training dummies both with spells and the kick boxing lessons she had taken.

Law Enforcement training was vigorous but this was where it had all really begun.

The fear the anger the loss. She called their names one by one as she kicked the dummies.

“For Cedric, Dean Thomas Sr, Mr. Bones, Mrs. Bones, Sirius, Mrs. Abbot, Dumbledore, Professor Burbage, Hedwig, Mad Eye, Dobby, Vincent Crabbe, Fred Weasley, Remus, Tonks, Colin, Professor Snape, and with one final hard kick and the Fallen 50 of the Battle of Hogwarts, fuck you Tom Marvolo Riddle, we beat you, you noseless son of a bitch.” She finally collapsed to the matt panting when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye.

Draco.

He knelt down and wiped away the tears she had not even known she had been crying. “Better?”

Hermione took his hand to stand up “No, not really.” She walked over to the wall with their pictures of the fallen.

He was surprised to see Vincent Crabbe. “Why” he asked motioning towards it.

“This is MY training room, and I never wanted to fight any of you, I just wanted to focus on the real enemy. We were all victims of circumstance and upbringing. Children are taught to hate Draco. You weren’t born with those ideas. I knew that. Vincent should not have had to die for them.”

Draco wasn’t sure what to say. “Your compassion never ceases to amaze me, Granger. _You_ are amazing.”

With a slightly bitter laugh Hermione placed her hands on the edge of the table, head bowed while Draco watched her quietly. “You seem to be in the minority of people who believe that right now.”

He wanted to or say something. Anything. He was just uncertain what he could say to make this better.

It reminded him of the day when Ron had begged Harry to go find her to “fix it”. He suddenly had empathy for the man when he realized he would do anything to fix this for her.

“You know that isn’t true. Your friends and family would do anything for you. You are worth ten Weasels. A hundred.” Draco tried reassuring her.

Not that it took much effort to try. Ronald Weasley was a moron. Even still... if everything went Draco’s way he would bloody well send that man a huge gift basket!

As he was thinking about this and watching Hermione bent over other, more primal desires, became evident.

He was suddenly very aware of how very little her training uniform covered. The shorts left much of her leg exposed and the tank top had ridden up to just above her belly button. She was 37 with the body of a woman 10 years younger. While she stretched from her work out he was transfixed by the by the movement of her body.

At the moment it did not matter that she was still technically a married woman.

It did not matter that he knew it was morally wrong.

The only thing that mattered in that moment was that his best friend had suddenly turned into a most desirable woman. Into, in fact, the most import thing in his life aside from his son.

He had taken a step towards her when she said “The children will be here soon, I should shower.”

OK that mattered, children, and here soon.

Forget that she is going to be naked in that shower.

Right there.

You are not an animal Malfoy, you can control your urges, I positively forbid you to get an erection.

Why did nothing in his life listen to him any longer?

Hermione stepped from the shower with her hair still slightly damp. Draco could tell by the redness of her eyes that she had spent the time having a good cry.

Unable to restrain himself any longer Draco stepped forward and took her into his arms. “We will get through this you know.”

Hermione drew back and looked up at him “How?”

Stroking her cheek with his thumb he said reassuringly “The same way we get through all of our pain. Together.”

Nodding she placed her hand over his, stilling it on her cheek.

He knew from the look on her face that if he tried to kiss her she would allow it.

It was only by a bare thread that he resisted. All evidence to the contrary, and earlier illicit thoughts, he was no cad. Hermione was still a married woman.

“I don’t know what I would do without you Draco.” Hermione told him sincerely.

“You’ll never have the chance to find out.” Draco told her firmly.

And he knew he meant it. If he made a move now he would risk being nothing more than the rebound guy.

Reluctantly he pulled himself away. “We need to step out and transfer this room in to more than your morbid damned altar of pain and regret.”

“My….?” Hermione choked out, completely distracted for a moment from her pain by the sincere desire to punch him again. “You know, you are much changed Malfoy, but that horrid child is still in there.”

He grinned at her telling her that distracting her had been his entire point. “You know it, but don’t blame me if you have crappy taste in décor.” He held his hands together piously “Salazar knows I have tried with you, but you have resisted all of my efforts to turn you in to a civilized woman.”

Hermione laughed and hugged him one last time. “Alright, let’s face this horrible, terrible thing. Together.”

“Together.” Draco agreed.


	12. Family Meeting

They stepped out so they could transform the RoR into a comforting living room with hot cocoa and cushiony pillows just in time for the children to arrive.

They were not alone. Harry and Ginny were there as well. Harry did not look at all surprised to see Draco, just shook his hand.

They had also brought James and Albus with them.

After getting comfortable Hermione explained to her children that yes, Ron and she would begin taking steps to no longer be husband and wife. But that she would always be their mother and Ron would always be their father and they were very much loved.

Knowing that knowledge can make things less scary Hermione carefully discussed the legal proceedings both from the wizard world and the muggle world.

Hermione concluded with “You do have a choice, children. You may choose to live with me or your father.” Both glared at her in disbelief.

“I HAVE no father” declared Rose.

“Rosie, you have to make peace with him” sighed Hermione.

She would not allow her children to become estranged from their father.

“Why? I have plenty of Uncles, and older cousins enough father figures to go around. Besides, one day you will get married again, you aren’t ugly mother, and you are bloody brilliant, some man is going to grab you up and then I will have a brand new father and…” Rose started crying “hopefully the next one won’t be a total prat who shows off his new girlfriend in public while he still has a wife.”

The room was sent into a stunned silence.

“Rose….” Draco had no idea what he was going to say to the distraught girl.

“YOU!” rose whirled on Draco, flinging herself into his arms. “Mum lives with you. You will be my new father won’t you?”

“Rose…” Draco tried again, patting her gently on the back and then holding her at arm’s length. “I will always be your Uncle and your very good friend. But even though your father had an affair, and I know those pictures must have been traumatizing… Ron is still your father.” Draco was touched by the young girl’s faith in him though.

Hermione closed her eyes waiting for the fall out.

The pictures had not been discussed yet, but they would soon be common knowledge amongst the family.

“WHAT” screamed Ginny “How do they... traumatized?!” she looked at James inquiringly.

“Pictures Mum, someone sent Rosie and Hugo pictures. Highly inappropriate pictures. Of Uncle Ron and some woman.” James explained to his mother.

Ginny looked murderous “Harry I am going to need you to abuse your Auror authority to keep me out of Azkaban.” Harry wisely stayed silent.

“ENOUGH” shouted Draco. “This is hard enough as is, Hermione needs to finish this and then be loved by her family not further traumatized.”

Everyone in the room looked ashamed.

“Sorry mum,” Rose and Hugo both said at the same time.

Ginny just looked down.

“We do want to stay with you though.” Hugo said very firmly.

Hermione nodded “I will start looking for a place for us at once. Somewhere in London close to the Ministry so I can…”

Draco growled “You will do no such thing the west wing is plenty big enough for all of you and you are already settled in.” When she started to protest he cut her off “We will discuss this at _our_ home, Hermione. In private.”

She rolled her eyes. “Stubborn, arrogant arse.”

“You know that is the second today you have insulted.” Draco grinned “You may have just hurt both of my feelings.”

“Your two feelings are grumpy and hungry. I doubt I have injured either.” Hermione teased him back.

Everyone in the room seemed stunned to hear Draco refer to the manor as _their_ home and Hermione not protest it.

“As soon as I start proceedings the press will pick it up the divorce news anyway so it will be better if we hold a press conference. This may make things a bit more difficult than usual for you in Hogsmeade for a bit, even you Scorpius, since the press will want you to make statements, you have all been trained in this but your friends have not, there is nothing we can do about that. Please try to avoid being expelled for fighting.” She looked pointedly at Hugo and James who both rolled their eyes in a perfect imitation of her.

“And Rosie, it isn’t ladylike to punch boys in the face.” Hermione admonished.

Last year Rose had been in a scuffle with some boy after Quidditch practice.

At this Harry coughed and Draco looked at her incredulously.

“What?” Hermione asked primly. “Those were extenuating circumstances”

“You…. Punched someone Aunt Hermione?” James looked astonished. And impressed.

“That would be me. She punched me.” Draco informed him.

“You… punched Uncle Draco?” Rose looked stunned and amused.

“There were extenuating circumstances.” Hermione crossed her arms.

“And what were those?” Hugo usually stayed out of family gossip. He was a shy quiet boy but he really wanted to know these circumstances that his mother alluded to.

“I was an arrogant arse and made her angry. I did that a lot in those days.” Draco winked at Rose.

“Jacob was an arrogant arse when I punched him. I don’t seem to recall that being a reason to let me off of punishment!” Rose was outraged at the injustice of the situation.

“Nor was I allowed off of punishment young lady.” Hermione informed her, eager to be done with this awkward conversation.

After cocoa and hugs the children were sent back to class. The adults looked at the pictures the children had been sent. Draco wanted to know from where the pictures of him and Hermione had been taken so he could set up better security.

Harry went over the security measures Malfoy Manor already had.

“Can’t you just ask Weasley how the hell he broke in to my home?” Draco threw the photos down in frustration.

“I did, he says the photos were sent to him” Draco scoffed “And besides, it is not like he had to sneak on to your property you know. If he had shown up you would have let him in. He says he has no idea who took these and on this point I believe him.”

Ginny wanted to know how much would be left of Ron once she got a hold of him. Not much she decided not much at all. “My niece and nephew saw these? I will kill him.” Hermione drew in a shuddering breath. “She came to see me, she says she is pregnant.”

Ginny made a disgusted noise “Stupid cow. Rosie was right though Hermione. Your life is not over. My idiot brother never deserved you.”

Hermione still felt the need to defend her relationship with Ron “Ginny that isn’t exactly fair…”

“The best things he ever gave you were your kids.” Ginny snorted. “If it had not been for the war throwing you together you honestly never would have been with him. You would have been sharing your life with someone who was perfect for you, who you did not have to explain every little thing to, who you could just sit there with and not _have_ to talk, who understood your passions your career and your life. Like me and Harry. I love my brother. I am absolutely going to kill him, but I still love him. But Hermione… that kind of relationship… it just never described you and Ron and it was never going to.”

Hermione and Draco had both gone very still because they knew very well who it _did_ describe.

They were both thinking about the nights they spent going over their day and discussing work.

Or discussing nothing. Just working or sitting in companionable silence.

“You deserve someone,” Ginny continued “who you don’t have to dumb yourself down for.”

“I never…” But Hermione knew she did. She had to. Rob felt like she was putting on airs and being a swot.

“And my brother, well…” Ginny glared at the pictures “He deserves nothing right now but a good kick in the arse. But one day he will deserve someone who he doesn’t feel inferior to.”

Hermione and Draco had been avoiding looking at one another.

Draco because he was restraining his desires.

Hermione because she was not ready to admit she desired her best friend.

So they looked anywhere but at each other.

Ginny and Harry were not fooled.


	13. I wouldn't Bet On It

In the end Hermione agreed that she would stay largely because Draco was a better Slytherin than she was a Gryffindor, not that she would ever admit that to him.

She was determined to prove how brave she was by moving out on her own.

He was devious enough to pull out all of the stops to keep her there.

She told him she needed to make her own way.

He reminded her of the promise she had made to him, his son and her dear friend, his dead wife to never leave him alone. And yet she had been doing exactly that. This may have been understandable when she had to live with Weasley as his wife, but now it was just plain breaking a promise and being a bad friend.

They had Rose and Hugo’s rooms set up that weekend.

Hermione was touched by how much effort Draco put in to setting up the children’s rooms.

Rose had the Quidditch bedroom of her dreams. Draco went out of his way to go and get a poster signed by the entire United Kingdom National Team.

Hugo, who was so much like his mother at his age, had his own small library to study in. Complete with Quills, parchment, cauldrons, a small potion set. Everything his little heart could dream of for studying.

“Draco…” Hermione started looking around in amazement. “You really shouldn’t have…”

“Will they like them do you think?” Draco asked, ignoring Hermione’s fretting “I could always…”

Hermione laughed “You have done more than enough. Forget about Rose I want you to adopt ME!”

The look Draco gave her was enough to make Hermione blush.

Before either could say anything they were interrupted by Tabby to tell them they had a visitor.

“We will be right down Tabby!” Hermione smiled grateful for the interruption before she could foolishly fling herself in to her best friend’s arms.

Tabby was happy to have more children to take care of and had gone over all of Hermione’s cookbooks. She had wanted the children to have familiar foods.

The little elf had clearly not been impressed as she promptly asked if there were other foods the children might find comforting.

Hermione had slugged a snickering Draco in the arm. Do NOT judge me! I had only ever had to cook for Ron and Harry before I became a mother. I don’t know if you have noticed but neither of them is exceedingly picky.”

“I have seen Ronald eat, yes. Does he even taste the food he shovels in?” Draco teased.

Hermione giggled “That isn’t fair, he has slowed down considerably lately.”

Hermione had decided to ask Molly Weasley for copies of her recipes that Hermione knew the children really enjoyed.

She had felt a little awkward doing so, and had to remind herself repeatedly that she had done nothing wrong.

As it turned out she needn’t have felt shy about asking at all. It was almost insulting the speed with which Molly had replied offering to teach her to cook those same recipes.

Merlin, had her cooking really been that dreadful?

When she questioned Draco about it he had wisely redirected. “You have other talents Granger. I am certain that between being a know it all swot and a member of law enforcement you have not had time to learn the finer arts. Although perhaps…” He hesitated “you could look into boiling water for tea without scorching the pan…”

“You mean as a woman I should be learning to cook and clean?” Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.

Draco threw back his head and barked a laugh “No, I mean as a British Witch you should bloody well be able to make TEA! And as a human being who requires sustenance you should make more than… what are those things you keep dragging out?”

“Bacon sandwiches.” Hermione grumbled.

“Truly?” Draco’s surprise was actually the most insulting bit of all.

Hermione was now determined to prove she could cook. She just wasn’t willing to go around to the Burrow just yet.

She sent an owl asking if Molly could just send over some copies please and thank you.

No one was more surprised than Hermione when those cookbooks were delivered by Molly herself.

Molly was greeted by Draco first, who was unsure what his reception would be. After all he was the man her daughter in law was living with, however platonic their relationship might be at the moment.

But Molly treated him like always, a hug and a kiss and instructions to “Bring around tea, Draco, if you please and someplace to have a sit down, there’s a good boy.”

Draco rolled his eyes, older women had the knack for making him feel twelve again.

His mother, McGonagall, Molly Weasley. They all had the uncanny affect on him.

It did not matter who they were. As long as they were old enough to be his mother he was completely at their mercy.

Even here, master of his own manor, CEO of a major conglomerate in both the Wizarding and muggle worlds he was being bossed around like a house elf.

Molly was quite pleased with the tea he brought in. And the biscuits.

When Hermione came in she pulled her into a longer hug. “Oh Hermione, I am so sorry for Ron’s deplorable behavior.”

Hermione looked sympathetically at the woman who had been a mother to her when her own could not remember she even had a daughter. “Molly, I don’t blame you for the problems in my marriage…”

“Oh that boy!” Molly interrupted “I can’t for imagine where his father and I went so wrong. We take full responsibility what he has done. We still consider you our very own daughter, nothing has changed between us.”

Hermione looked up to see what Molly was looking at, or rather who in this case. “Molly, I am staying here with Draco because he opened his home to me as a _friend _I would hope that the family would understand that.”

Molly winked making Hermione close her eyes in exasperation. “Of course dear, we all have wanted to live purely as friends with an exceedingly attractive man.” Molly did not care if the pair had been engaging in a full blown affair. She was just happy her youngest son may not end up in prison after all.

Hermione rolled her eyes and tried again. “Draco and I have had enough scandal to last both of us several lifetimes. There is nothing occurring in this household behind closed doors that would not occur on the front steps of the Ministry itself. My friendship with Draco did not change the way I felt about you before Ron’s indiscretion nor has it changed the way I feel about you now. And only Ronald himself is responsible for how I feel about him.”

Molly paused to glance at Draco in the doorway “I am pleased to know that dear. I thought perhaps you would feel differently now…”

Molly was a very astute woman. She had not missed the way Draco hovered in the doorway protectively. It was clear no matter her protestations that Draco had a bit more than friendship on his mind.

She knew her daughter in law was a good woman and would not have stepped out on her husband. Molly was quite aware that Ron’s insecurities all stemmed from his silly notion that he had never been quite good enough for the witch he had ended up married to. And Molly knew Hermione had done everything she could to bolster Ron’s self esteem.

No, there was nothing for it. The two had gotten married far too soon. A bit of counseling would have done them some good beforehand. But perfect clarity in hindsight sadly would not save this marriage. Molly had to remind herself that not all young love could survive the way hers had would Arthur. Or the way she was certain Ginny’s would with Harry.

“No.” Hermione said quite firmly. “Friendship. Roommates. Apparently cooking lessons in the very near future... That is all.”

Molly smiled warmly, and a bit cheekily “I wouldn’t say that to George if I were you dear, I do believe his financial solvency may well rely on there being more than friendship as a motivator to your current living situation.”

Hermione sighed and giggled all at once. She was so glad she would not lose all of the Weasleys.

“He can’t truly have been on my… on… that…?” Hermione covered her mouth, still giggling.

“Merlin” muttered Draco from the doorway “Is there nothing your family will not wager on?”

Molly thought long and hard and finally grinned “I wouldn’t bet on it.”


	14. The Press

The press release went as well as could be expected.

This is to say horrendous.

The news had got out that not only was Ron involved with his assistant but that she was carrying his child.

The Weasley children had not been made aware of the pregnancy and were rightfully shocked. Hermione feared Ron’s relationship with Rose might never be repaired. Rose had not exactly been thrilled as a toddler to find out Hugo was on the way. She had considered it rank betrayal. A child born outside of the marriage? This would be possibly beyond her ability to forgive.

Hermione mused over how she had become far more concerned with her children’s relationship with their father than her own relationship with Ron. Perhaps their marriage had been over long before she had realized it.

If Ron just apologized for what he had done… sincerely apologized… perhaps they could at least be friends again. Hermione realized that was what she would miss most of all. Their friendship. One that had lasted from the time they were eleven years old.

Of course the mention of a child had the press circling like dragons on the wing. The scandal was made more salacious by the due date.

The press fired rapid questions at Hermione, hoping to catch her slipping out something juicy. Fortunately Hermione had far too much press training for that.

“How did the "brightest witch of her age" fail to notice an affair that had gone on for several months?”

“Is there any truth to the rumors that she and Draco Malfoy had been involved in your own affair during this time?”

“Is that why she had failed to notice or care about her husband's extramarital activities?”

“Did you and Ron have an open marriage and if so why was the marriage suddenly over now? Is it because now there is a new child involved? Did the child violate your arrangement?”

Most of these questions were shot at here from one Rita Skeeter who had somehow managed to work her way back into a legitimate career as a gossip columnist.

Although Hermione noticed the other reporters did not shy away from and in fact hover over their scrolls with quill in hand waiting for her answers.

Not that they were going to get anything juicy, she had far too much poise to give away even the least bit of unintended information.

The training was largely due to Rita's interference since her fourth year of Hogwarts. Although the vile witch kept trying to wheedle any tid bits she could. Hermione knew that Skeeter would make up what she wanted to improve her ratings.

Hermione looked imperiously down at Rita Skeeter. She had chosen this room specifically because it allowed her to sit far above the members of the press.

The press was also present during the signing of the dissolution of marriage signing. In the wizarding world any way.

They had no idea the couple had been married in the muggle world, nor would they have cared if they had known. It was considered of little importance.

Ah but two thirds of the Golden trio's marriage dissolving was certainly a big deal in the wizarding world.

Property and galleons and certain rights had been granted to each of them and how this would be divided was tabloid fodder as lines were drawn regarding who deserved what.

Many feeling that Ron deserved nothing for cheating on Hermione while others believed she had hit a gold mine with the Malfoy Heir and Ron should get it all.

The children were never discussed which both delighted and disgusted the parents.

In the end it did not matter what the opinion of the press was.

All property that was granted to them separately remained the property of the individual. All property gained during the marriage was put in trust for their children.

Custody of the children, by the request of the children themselves, went solely to Hermione. Liberal visitation was granted to Ron, but only Hugo had taken advantage of it. Rose refused to see him at all and would leave her grandparents' home if he arrived, prompting Molly to all but ban Ron from the Burrow when the children were home from school.

The muggle divorce took longer but was even easier. Ron had no property to divide in the muggle world and all of Hermione’s property consisted of trinkets left to her by her families and a small trust. They had to make up funds to explain why they were not on the public dole.

In the end the Hermione Granger-Weasley was no more. She was once again Hermione Granger and a simple flick of her wrist at her office door proclaimed this to the Ministry at large as the name plate on her office door was changed.

The footsteps behind her were comforting and familiar as was the hand placed on her shoulder.

They went in to her office where she poured them both tea. “Did you ever imagine this was where we would wind up, Harry?” Hermione asked her best friend quietly.

“That Ron would do something so stupid that both of us would be ready to hex his bollocks off?” Harry replied “Absolutely. This? Absolutely not. But what do I know, I never thought we would survive this long. Ron and I anyway, we all knew you would be just fine. If nothing else you would have crawled into that manky little beaded bag with that mangy cat for a spot of afternoon tea and a bloody book to read until it all blew over.”

Hermione punched him in the arm, “Crooks was NOT mangy” her half kneazel cat Crookshanks had passed on some 5 years ago but had been her constant companion until then.

“Think you will ever forgive him Mione?” Harry asked sadly.

“For which part? Cheating on me for months? Getting his assistant pregnant? So desperate to make me the bad guy he poisoned my tea with veritaserum? Which he abused his position as an Auror to get his hands on to start with? The pornographic pictures my children were sent of him and his new girlfriend? Which part am I forgiving him for exactly?” Hermione ditched the tea for a glass of brandy.

“All of it? Any of it? Would it matter if you knew he was not seeing Cecilia?” Harry knew what her answer would be. What he expected it to be. “I am not really sure what answer I am looking for Mione.”

“No, it really doesn’t matter if he is no longer with her Harry. If it was only me, Harry? Probably, but his actions hurt the children. And not just mine. Yours are being dragged back through it. Scorpius is catching hell for it. The latest rumor is that Draco and I were carrying on while his mother was ill. That has to hurt.”

“Scorpius knows that isn’t true.” Harry knew how much this had hurt all of the children. Even his own had confessed they felt like the family was breaking up.

“It really doesn’t matter, it is still being said, and that damned Skeeter bitch is at it all over again.” Hermione tossed the paper down on the desk, disgusted.

“Yeah… she never really did get over you keeping her in a jar and blackmailing her. Or forcing her to stop writing for a year.” Harry snickered looking at the witch’s face on the cover.

This finally broke the ice and got them laughing and reminiscing about things other than Ron’s affair and subsequent actions.

It was nice just being with Harry for a bit. As irrational as that fear was, Hermione had been afraid she might lose his friendship too.


	15. Emo Without All the Glitter

One thing remained a constant in Hermione’s life, evil people.

Her personal life could be going to hell, whether it was an affair or risk of expulsion from school (she almost smiled at how proud Ron would be of the order she placed those two in … almost. Priorities ”sorted enough” you git?), no matter. Bad witches and wizards would still do awful things. And it did not take a maniacal bigoted dark wizard leading them to stir up trouble.

And right behind trouble being stirred up was the press as a constant in her life. The press had already decided that Hermione and Draco were a couple and that was that as far as the Wizarding world was concerned. It was not all bad. After the initial shock wore off, Draco and Scorpius were treated far more kindly by the community at large and as far as Hermione was concerned that made the initial awkwardness all worthwhile to watch her adopted nephew be able to walk down a street and have people smile at him for a change.

In her working life, other than the change of name on the door, not much else had been altered.

Hermione was considered the unofficial head of investigations. The post had not been officially filled, but everyone had turned to her after the death of the last lead investigator.

So it was no surprise to anyone several months later when Hermione was officially made the new Head of Magical Law Enforcement. Many felt it was about time. Hermione felt it would just add more official work to her already unofficial overworked in box.

A large dinner was being held in her honor. Merlin but she hated these events. With Ron she could always plead that he was far too busy in his Auror work for them to attend. She no longer had that handy excuse.

It was no surprise to anyone that Draco would be her escort.

In public they were the perfect couple. He held out chairs for her, ushered her in to buildings with his hand on the small of her back. In private they even appeared to be the perfect couple they shared their day, read quietly, ate their meals together and were just… together... except appearances were deceiving. They most certainly were not together in any romantic sense.

They just looked like it. Even their outfits nearly always matched. Although this was largely due to the fact that they both nearly always wore black. Hers was required by her position and his, she mused, looking him up and down, was required by his being a morbid bastard. She snickered behind her hand.

“This is a solemn occasion, Granger, one being held in your honor, might I add, snickering at your dinner date is in poor form.” Draco escorted her to their table where Ginny and Harry were already seated.

“How do you know I was snickering at you?” Hermione hedged “Even assuming I was snicker, which I most certainly was not. Hello Harry, Gin.”

Draco rolled his eyes at her obvious lie.

“Rolling your eyes is just as bad you know.” Hermione reminded him.

“Yes, that is true. But nothing is being held in MY honor and I have fallen so far in their esteem they are just happy when I don’t actually hex anyone.” Draco grinned at her wickedly.

She elbowed him in the ribs.

“You also are definitely NOT supposed to commit acts of bodily harm against anyone at these events. Tell her Harry.” Draco turned to their table companion.

“Leave me out of this; I am glad it is someone else going home with bruised ribs tonight.” Ginny promptly elbowed Harry in the ribs making them all laugh.

After a few minutes of silence as other dinner guests arrived and stopped by their table and Hermione still had not told him what was so laughable, he finally broke.

“I am not accustomed to women eyeing my appearance and laughing Granger, out with it, what is so damned funny?” He demanded.

“You look like an Emo 16 year old girl without all the fucking glitter.” Hermione giggled.

Draco choked on the wine he had taken a sip of. “I look like a WHAT without glitter?”

“You know, Emo, Goth.” She took out her cell phone and showed him pictures. “All the black with your pale coloring, it is morbid, Draco.”

“Oh, so that is what we have planned for when we get home, a fight about my wardrobe?” Draco raised his eyebrow inquiringly.

Ginny chose this moment to observe, “I don’t know why you two keep saying you aren’t “together” together because you so ARE, no one else does,” she motioned her hand up and down between them “this if they aren’t “together” together...”

“Quiet Ginny.” They both said at the same time.

“YOU wear black all the time.” Draco pointed out.

“My job requires it, yours does not. You used to wear different colors at Hogwarts Draco.” Hermione sat her wine glass down. “Do you even own anything besides black now?”

“How the hell do you know what I used to wear at Hogwarts?” Now Draco seemed amused.

“Well... you know… you were in Slytherin… you had to wear green…” Why had she opened her big fat mouth?

“You said colors… as in more than one.”Draco was grinning now. “Why would you have been interested in what I was wearing Granger?”

Hermione had turned a deep scarlet as both Harry and Ginny were now giving her raised eyebrows of amusement now as well.

“Oh do shut up Malfoy, your appearance was NOT your problem.” Hermione glared at him.

“Did you just admit to having a school girl crush on me Granger?” Draco’s eyes were sparkling with amusement.

“I most certainly did not!” Hermione tried for indignation.

Draco winked at her. “I think you most certainly did.”

“Oh do be quiet Kingsley is getting ready to start.” She was blushing down to the collar of her robes now.

Draco laughed quietly.

Just as the lights were dimmed but before Kingsley began to speak Draco leaned over dragging his lips lightly against her jaw up close to her ear “Later you will have to tell me what other things you ‘just happened to notice’, Granger.” Her stomach did a little flip and now it was her turn to choke on her wine.

“Careful Granger, it is also in poor form to require mouth to mouth just before you have to give a speech.” Draco was staring at her lips in a way that made her cheeks heat up.

She swallowed “How do you even know about muggle rescue methods?”

“What muggle rescue methods?” Draco asked with a shrug.

She stumbled over her speech and she blamed Malfoy. She had never been so tongue tied in all her life. Fortunately most took it for humbleness.

Harry looked sympathetic, Ginny looked amused.

Draco, damned his morbid, emo bastard hide, looked at her mockingly.

She planned to invent a glittery spell that very night. She was going to get George Weasley to help her.


	16. After Dinner Party

Much to Hermione’s great relief, the pomp and circumstance were finally over.

The usual crowd were all invited back to the manor for a small gathering to celebrate her promotion.

A few of the not so usual crowd were also invited.

Neville was there along with Hannah. The two rarely got out. As the Headmaster Neville found his duties kept him tied to Hogwarts more than he would like.

George came with Angelina. Roxanne and Freddy were at their grandparent’s with all of the rest of the children.

Ron although invited for appearance sake, wisely stayed home.

George and Angelina walked out on to the balcony in time to hear Neville exclaim disbelievingly “You did NOT!”

Hermione and Draco were side by side leaning against a rail close enough to cause more than a few raised eyebrows. Neville’s exclamation not withstanding.

“We most certainly did.” Grinned Hermione and rolled up her sleeve to show Neville her tattoo of a dark mark.

George was very interested in the tattoo itself and whether or not they could be made with a magical ink to have other properties. He immediately started grilling Draco on how what when and where they were obtained while Angelina rolled her eyes torn between amusement, annoyance and tolerance.

“But… why would you get… _that…_ Hermione?” Neville looked a bit green.

She shook her head laughing “Don’t look so shocked Neville. It is only an image. Fear of a name or image increases fear of the thing itself. Didn’t we teach that in D.A.? Didn’t Dumbledore teach us that first? I needed to get this to let it all go. As long as I stayed afraid of it as long as I stayed afraid of what it meant that it was on Draco’s arm it would always have a hold on me. Now? It is just one ugly mother of a snake and skull. ”

Draco nodded and lifted up his sleeve to show a perfect tattoo replica of the carving of “mudblood” on Hermione’s arm “Ditto. I had to stop going back to that night. I had to own it and let it go. Now it is just an ugly word that has no more hold on my life.”

They turned their forearms together as they usually did and pressed those two ugly marks together grasping one another lightly by the elbow.

Those who were witnessing it for the first time knew it was a private and powerful bond of strength and forgiveness that they could not and did not find in anyone else.

The rest of the party was a joyful affair with old friends and new popping in and out from school and work.

Draco realized that he had not properly entertained since before Astoria became pregnant. He had never really thought he would have anything to celebrate after she had died.

He was glad to see how very wrong he had been.

Old rivalries had long ago been washed away since the end of the war and end of school and beginning of adult lives and responsibilities did not allow room for whose house got more points.

And who would give them points for doing a better job on a work report anyway?

By midnight Hermione was slightly tipsy but only slightly. She had been very careful to space her drinks responsibly.

She began her new duties at ten a.m. sharp. With apologies for calling it an early night and thanking them all for coming, she started seeing their guests out.

As soon as the last one was out she rounded on Draco “You did that on purpose! At the dinner! You made me nervous on PURPOSE!” She accused.

He had no problem picking up right where they had left off arguing before.“You’re damned right I did! I am not some Evo without glitter! You had that one coming, Granger!”

“Emo, with an “m,” you know, like the beginning of “morbid” and you are.” Hermione crossed her arms. “And don’t you dare blame it on mourning either you have been dressing this way for years!”

“Why do you care what I look like when I go out anyway?” He really didn’t know what the big deal was.

“I am afraid they might mean something… else…” Like you are miserable she did not dare say.

“They are just clothes. Hermione. They don’t mean anything! Why do you think everything has a deeper meaning?” The witch was infuriating.

“They do if it means you are means you are hurting or lonely or in pain I don’t want you to feel any of those things because…” She realized she was shouting at him.

“Because…?” He asked quietly

Realizing she had said too much Hermione decided to retreat. “Never mind wear whatever you bloody well want it really isn’t any of my business I am going to bed.”

She stalked off to her room but he had no problem following her.

“Answer the damned question Granger.” Draco demanded.

“I don’t remember the question, I have been drinking.” Lies and damned lies. But she just could not tell him the truth.

“You had exactly three glasses of wine half an hour apart.” He was far too observant for her comfort.

She put a hand to her head. “I care about what happens to you. We are friends. That’s why.”

“Liar. If you had meant that you would have said that.” His voice had gone quiet. Almost silky.

She turned to face the opposite wall away from him and put her hand on the bedpost.

“Talk to me. What are you so deep in thought about?” Hermione knew Draco was slowly walking towards her, but she refused to turn and face him.

Hermione shook her head stubbornly still facing the wall.

Hermione knew she absolutely must take control of this situation and herself. If she did not she would begin blurting out… inappropriate statements. Ones that would make Draco flee in a blind panic.

It was too soon. All of this was just too soon.

There was no way she could admit to Draco that she actually had feelings for him. Feelings that had nothing to do with friendship.

The divorce had only been finalized… Merlin… had it actually been six months? Was that too soon?

Oh he had infuriated her so much she could no longer think straight!

She heard him walk up behind her just before his hand slipped around her waist. Her heart started beating faster. Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead. Why couldn’t he just leave before she did something foolish?

“Control yourself, Hermione.” She cautioned herself. “Draco holds you like this all of the time. It doesn’t mean anything.”

He took her hand from the bedpost and wrapped both arms around her and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

“I love you too, Granger.”


	17. Slytherin Colors

Hermione froze.

Did Draco just say he loved her?

She was certain she misheard. Or misunderstood.

He meant as a friend. A sister. His best friend.

Nothing more.

She had come to terms with the nature of their relationship. Nice, safe, platonic.

It had to be the alcohol that was making him run his thumb down the curve of her ear to her jaw and her neck.

It was most assuredly the alcohol that made him follow that thumb with his lips and breath.

And it was pure insanity that made him pull her firmly back against his chest and his very obvious arousal.

And the insanity was clearly the contagious sort because Hermione turned in his arms and pressed herself fully against him as he captured her lips with his own.

She could not tell who the soft moan came from, him or her when he finally coaxed her mouth open to sweep his tongue inside.

She decided it no longer mattered when he turned her back towards the bed and gently pressed her back down into her comforters.

Reaching for the top button of her robe he gave her a questioning, almost pleading look.

Understanding what he was asking Hermione made a small wave and both of their clothing was gone.

Folded into neat piles on top of her dresser.

He started to roll his eyes at her less than passionate display of ripping their clothes off when she moved in a way that made him forget anything else for the rest of the night.

The next morning Hermione woke to find herself pulled into Draco's arms while he watched her sleep.

He had a slightly worried look on his face that disappeared as soon as she smiled at him.

"No regrets Granger?" He sounded worried too.

"Just the one." Hermione confessed, but her teasing toe told him there were no real regrets.

"That you have to run off to work and leave me here thinking about you all day by my lonesome?" Draco rolled on top of her, kissing her neck.

"No, you have work to do and meetings all day.” Hermione shoved him off of her “I know your schedule Malfoy and don't try to skiv off of it."

He pretended to be hurt. "If it is not the thought of leaving my bed that is your regret then what is it?"

"We are in MY bed I will remind you." She grabbed a towel from her stack.

"Semantics." Draco waved a hand.

"My only regret is that the press pegged us a couple long ago. I do so hate proving them right." She pouted.

Actually, that wasn’t a joke, she hated make reporters happy.

He laughed and slapped her bare butt as she got up to shower before work.

It was a good thing she woke up early because he decided not two minutes after hearing the water start that joining her was a very good idea.

And then recalling that she had never confessed she loved him refused to let her out until she professed undying love for him AND admitted her school girl crush. The latter of which she refused to do until the water was iced cold, something she was sure he had done magically since she never recalled it getting cold before.

As she was getting dressed he got a good look at her lingerie. "Merlin Granger is that ALWAYS what you wear under your work clothes?!"

She looked down at her matching silver and green lace bra and panties set with full garters holding up her stockings. "No, I have several sets in different colors matching my outfits. Why?"

He groaned. "Now I am going to have that image in my head all day."

She laughed "Good thing you did not see me get dressed at Hogwarts then."

His eyes grew wide "You didn't dress like this then?"

Hermione laughed "Since fifth year. If we were going to die I wasn't going to do it wearing cotton knickers. I decided I deserved something nice and the habit stuck."

He groaned she was going to be the death of him. He grinned wickedly as a thought occurred to him. "You do know you are wearing Slytherin colors don't you?"

She shrugged "I hadn't given it much thought to be honest. I bought a pant suit that I liked and these colors match it." She spun around wearing just the lingerie and her heels. "I take it you approve?"

His eyes turned a much darker shade of grey as he reached for her "I think we should both skiv off of work today."

She laughed "Not a chance it is my first day and you have an ambassador from Bulgaria to meet with."

"Fine, but tonight we are not going out I don't care if the Prime Minister himself invites us." Draco said it as both a promise and a warning.

She kissed him lightly "Deal. You have become oddly possessive in a very short period of time."

He slipped his arms around her now fully clothed waist "I have always been possessive of you. I convinced you to live with me a year ago, you don't date other men and we eat every meal together, Granger. I have just been waiting for you to realize you belong to me."

Her mouth hung open. "It cannot have been a year? A year since when?"

"Today actually. Happy anniversary, love." He took advantage of her open mouthed surprise to kiss her thoroughly and then began to trail kisses down her neck.

She realized she needed to gain control of the situation before it got completely out of hand and pushed him gently back.

The process was made more difficult by the fact that she did not really want to gain control.

"Just how long were you prepared to wait until I came to this realization?" She stepped back out of his reach laughing when he pouted.

"As long as it took. Or exactly one year before I dragged you to my bed. Whichever came first?" He gave her that lopsided smirk he knew she could not resist and went back to kissing her neck this time sliding one hand up her thigh.

With a frustrated moan she pushed him off of her. "Malfoy you are going to make me late. Go to work!"

He laughed and released her. "Fine. But I intend to continue this promptly at 6 P.M. sharp wherever you happen to be. If you don't want to be embarrassed I would suggest you be here."

"Behave yourself. Meetings run late. I cannot just leave" she laughed slapping his arm.

"I have never been known to behave myself Granger. 6 P.M."


	18. 6 PM Sharp

With a final kiss she left for work.

The walk to the floo point gave her time to think. And even more importantly to reflect on how happy she was.

A feeling she thought for a time she would never experience again after those photographs emerged.

Draco was such a serious man usually it was good to see him in such a teasing playful mood.

She did not for one moment believe he had any intention of hunting her down and continuing to … she shuddered at the thought of what he intended to continue… wherever she happened to be.

Although the thought was a bit titillating.

She should have known better.

She really should have.

She had known him since she was eleven years old. He had never in his entire life been what anyone would call a "good boy".

Draco Malfoy was many things. Devilishly handsome. Ungodly talented with his tongue in more ways than one.

And when he promised to do something unseemly he meant to do exactly that.

It had been a long tedious day. She had to meet the head of every department she would be working with.

At least Harry was there to represent the Aurors so that made that particular task bearable and they had managed to do it over lunch. It had been nice catching up with him.

She talked about Draco of course. Harry had been supportive of her pursuing a romantic relationship.

“In fact,” Harry told her “it is about bloody damned time.”

“You don’t think the kids will mind do you? You don’t think it is too soon? I mean… Rose still isn’t speaking to Ron and…” Hermione fretted

“No,” Harry said firmly “the kids won’t mind. They love Draco. And they wanted you to be happy. Besides they already think you and Draco are together and just hiding it very poorly.”

Hermione had rolled her eyes at this. "Is that what everyone thinks?"

Harry chewed a piece of his pie and nodded "Pretty much. Come on Hermione, it has been pretty obvious for a long time that you two are crazy about each other.”

“As FRIENDS Harry, not romantically.” Hermione reminded him.

“You keep saying he is just your best friend, but that is not true.” Harry shook his head, amused “I am your best friend. We don't go around with our arms linked with matching tattoos and making love struck eyes when we think the other one isn't looking.”

“We don’t…” Hermione had no idea anyone had caught her doing that.

And did he say Draco had been doing the same thing? She wanted to ask, but a sudden inexplicable shyness prevented her from doing so.

“Good Godrick Gryffindor, Hermione.” Harry rubbed his eyes “You are the worst liar. How you ended up with a Snake is beyond me.”

Hermione had thought about Harry’s words on and off all day. It had become a bit distracting. More than one of her meetings had ended with someone asking if she was alright.

But there was truly no denying it. She was completely, deliriously, in love with her best friend.

She wondered what had taken them so long to come together.

Maybe just that neither wanted to lose what they had if it didn't work out. What they already had was special in a way not even what she and Ron’s marriage of two decades had been.

Not that her marriage had been all bad. In the beginning it was wonderful.

And that thought frightened her more than anything else.

If she could not make it work with Ron, what made her think she could make it work with anyone else?

Ron had been one of her dearest friends. And look how that turned out.

Or maybe, just maybe, she thought to herself, you are over thinking this. Maybe this is one of those things that just had to be experienced and not researched to death.

Draco’s friendship, love and support had been her only lifeline. He brought her back from the brink of despair more than once.

He made her want to be a better person.

She could not lose that. She would be lost without him.

She was so deep in thought she almost missed the figure leaning against a post in the hallway leading to her office. She gave a start.

"Draco! You scared me half to death! What are you doing here?" She clutched her chest panting.

Draco’s eyes immediately focused on her breasts, heaving in a clichéd, but positively tantalizing, manner.

"It is 6:05 P.M. Granger." His eyes were full of mischief and a dark promise.

She narrowed her own eyes at him "What are you up to?"

"I gave you fair warning." he said, loosening his tie as he walked towards her. "You have two options. Your office is down that hall." he pointed behind him "Or you can stay in the hallway. Either way I fully intend to finish what we started this morning just like I promised."

Hermione's eyes went wide as he caught up with her and pulled her into an embrace, kissing her neck and sliding his very talented fingers up the inside of her thigh, making her legs turn to jelly.

As he sucked at a very sensitive pulse point she managed to choke out "Office..." Merlin, if anyone walked down this hallway at precisely this minute, she would probably hex them within an inch of their lives!

He chuckled darkly and swept her up in his arms, never breaking contact with the flesh between her shoulder and neck.

She knew he was biting and sucking her there hard enough to leave a mark. A primitive part of her wanted him to.

She growled low in her throat. She had never allowed Ron nor believed she would allow anyone else to do that.

She hated being marked like a possession. In self righteous female theory that is.

In practice it turned out she was someone else entirely.

Or maybe it was just that with Draco it was different. She wanted both of them to know she belonged to him.

He kicked open the door to her office. All he had been thinking about all day was that damned lingerie she had been wearing.

When he found out the knickers unsnapped at the crotch he vowed to buy out entire stock rooms full of the stuff in every color imaginable. But mostly silver and green.

Later Hermione was certain she would never be able to look her ficus in the... eye? Leaves? Flowers? Again.


	19. Dennis Creevey

Extracurricular office activities notwithstanding, Hermione’s first week on the job was not an easy one.

The case load was overwhelming the entire department. There were increasing attacks on muggleborn and halfborns. Nothing on the level of those during the war, but enough to worry the new Head of Magical Law Enforcement.

There was a lot of blame being placed squarely on the shoulders of escaped Death Eaters and their sympathizers, but so far no one had stepped up to take the credit, and their leads were slim.

All of the victims had been attacked while alone, memories wiped or altered and all they could remember was being attacked by individuals wearing what appeared to be Death Eater masks. Five attacks so far, all increasing in brutality, although no deaths so far, thank Merlin, and the pressure was on her department to get it solved.

The press wanted to know why Aurors were not being called in to handle the new Death Eater threat, and no matter how many times they were told there was absolutely no proof any Death Eaters escaped or otherwise had actually been involved, and that the Auror department was not called in to handle every case of battery no matter what costume the perpetrator wore.

It was becoming a PR nightmare very quickly. Those who had been attacked were prominent and wealthy members of society and seemed to have been chosen to make a statement.

Except no statement was forthcoming. Hermione was stymied. She had just finished a morning meeting with her team going over what they already knew, which wasn’t much, and strategizing for the coming week when her assistant Randy let her know she had a visitor.

Hermione liked Randy. He had moved up with her beginning as her raw recruit to her go to assistant when he was injured on the job and could no longer do field work. Now she was certain her entire office would fall apart without him. The young man he ushered in, with a slightly wicked grin at the young man’s hind quarters. Randy was an equal opportunity admirer of the human form, was familiar to Hermione and it took her just a few moments to recognize him. When she did she came from around her desk to hug him

“Dennis! It has been too long!” She had always had a soft spot for the youngest member of Dumbledore’s Army. She knew Harry had never quite got over the death of Dennis’ brother Colin. It was one of those that haunted him to this day.

She motioned for him to sit down. “What brings you in today? I will warn you, if you are looking for an inside scoop, I would be far more likely to give you one than anyone else, but there is literally nothing else to tell.”

Dennis sat down and laughed “Your problem has always been that you are too honest for your own good Hermione, try to hold something back so the press feels like they wheedled something out of you.” She let out something between a laugh and a sigh and poured them both a mug of tea “Yeah, yeah, you and Draco. I have heard that lecture before.”

“So you and Draco Malfoy, huh? Care to give an old friend an inside scoop on that relationship?” Dennis flashed her the award winning smile that had women, men and most higher forms of plant and animal life swooning.

“As an old friend? Absolutely? As a sneaky member of the press? Not on your life.” Hermione beamed at him and pured tea.

Dennis laughed again, “I will take what I can get, but maybe over lunch. I actually came here for a reason. Beyond your brilliant mind and scintillating conversation of course.”

“Flatterer, you are not going to bat your eyes and sweep me off to your bed where I will spill all of my secrets to you Creevey.” Hermione wagged a very mother-like finger at him.

He pretended mock offense “Hey I have other techniques I will have you know!” she raised an eyebrow.

Dennis shrugged in a way that told everyone who did not know him that he was just so gosh darned trustworthy. Lies, every word of it, but with a face like a Botticelli angel he got away with it. “OK, so I also go with what works.”

She rolled her eyes. Dennis Creevey had gone from being the most adorable, if slightly overly enthusiastic, younger brother of one of Harry’s greatest admirers to a battle front reporter known for reporting on the most dangerous topics and situations all over the globe. Hermione was incredibly proud of him.

Whenever he was in town he, Hermione, Ron and Harry usually managed to get together and catch up.

Their get togethers were always worthwhile.

He was known for some unorthodox methods of getting information from his female targets usually in very private intimate settings. These encounters had certainly resulted in more than a few scandals in his career.

As they sat down in their usual lunch spot Hermione looked across at him. “Since I doubt you are here to ruin my reputation by meeting with me alone, is it safe to assume you have some favor you want to ask of me?”

Dennis could call in favors from all over the world, but when it came to anything serious, he usually contacted a member of Dumbledore’s Army. Old habits die hard and the bonds that were forged during that war had remained strong.

“As a matter of fact, I do have an actual reason for coming to see you. You remember Gabrielle?” Hermione was caught off guard by the seriousness of his tone… but still…

Hermione paused to glare away the young waitress who was hovering around their table. Yes, Dennis was attractive, but he was just a little… Hermione looked over his physique, OK, not so little, but to her he was still the baby.

“Fluer’s sister? Yes, I remember her, of course I do, she is, or rather was my sister in law. Sort of. Why?” Hermione looked at Dennis warily.

Given his reputation Hermione was a bit suspicious of his intentions. Not that Gabrielle needed it. she had followed her brothers in law examples and became a fully fledged Auror who happened to enjoy dragon taming expeditions with Charlie as a hobby. A HOBBY. Hermione shuddered inwardly. No, Gabrielledid not need Hermione’s protection.

“There are rumors of trouble brewing with the goblins in France.” Dennis sipped his tea thoughtfully. “There are further rumors that they may be employing veela to distract humans from their activities.”

“What activities?” Hermione was on instant alert. Her training cued in to the fact that Dennis was worried about this.

“That is what I want to find out, but Gabriellehas been resistant to my charms…” Dennis paused.

“And by resistant you mean…?” Prompted Hermione.

“She hates me.” Dennis said plainly.

“Oh Dennis, I am sure she doesn’t… hate is a strong word, why would you think she hates you?” Gabriellewas such a kind woman, incredibly compassionate, Hermione could not imagine her hating anyone.

“She told me so. In those exact words ‘I hate you Dennis Creevey’ and then she punched me in the jaw.” Dennis rubbed his jaw as if he could still feel her tiy fist connecting with it. “I assure you, hate may be a strong word, but I dare say she would not find it strong enough for her depth of disgust for me.”

Hermione sighed “Why did she punch you Dennis?”

“She may believe I broke up her friend’s marriage.” Dennis murmured.

Of course, Hermione sighed. “Why would she believe that?”

“I may have been caught in bed with her friend’s wife.” Dennis frowned in to his tea.

Right, because of course he had been. “May have been or you were caught in bed with her friend’s wife?”

“OK, I was caught in bed with her, but it was completely innocent … mostly innocent.” He clarified seeing the look of irritation on Hermione’s face. “We were not having sex, we had not just had sex and we were not preparing to have sex.”

“Then what WERE you doing?” Hermione prodded him.

Dennis shrugged. “The problem is I can’t explain that to you or her or anyone.”

“OK, what do you want me to do Dennis?” And how will I protect you if I do, was what Hermione was thinking but kept that part to herself.

“Get her to agree to let me go on the assignment with them. Please Hermione, it is really important. My whole career could be made on this one story.” Hermione laughed at the look he gave her. So like the eager little boy he had once been.

She was not fooled at all. “Your career is already made, Dennis, you are one of the most easily recognizable reporters in the world.”

“OK, fair enough, still it is really important to me. And I don’t come hat in hand.” Dennis pulled a packet from his coat pocket. “I have some information for you about the current investigation you are conducting into the muggleborn attacks. I got a few contacts to look in to things for you. I have names of targets this group intends to hit.”

This got Hermione’s attention. “How did they get this? How reliable is it? Who are these contacts?”

“I don’t know, pretty reliable if vague, and I won’t answer that last one and you know it.” Dennis laughed at the excitement in his friend’s tone.

He slid the envelope across to her. “Fine Dennis, I will ask her. No promises, but I will be MY most convincing. Now, let’s finish our lunch while you tell me all about this ambassador’s wife you have scandalized.”

Dennis grinned and regaled Hermione with tales of sex and scandal.


	20. Colin Creevey

“So what is this I hear about you having lunch with a notorious, skirt chasing, whore mongerer.” Draco asked her over dinner, causing her to choke on her pasta.

“Excuse me?” She sputtered after sever gulps of water.

“Breathe Granger, it was a joke.” Draco gently patted her back. “One of my assistants happened to mention you had lunch with a reporter and then mentioned that reporter’s reputation is all.”

She laughed “He does have quite the reputation. In fact I took him to lunch trying to get the juicy bits of his latest scandal out of him.”

“Naughty witch. Were you successful?” He was vastly amused.

“No, it is one part of his life he refuses to share with me. Whether he shares with Harry and Ron I have no idea.” She looked miffed at the idea causing him to laugh again.

“So… who is he?” Draco was surprised to find he was genuinely interested.

“Dennis Creevey, a friend from Hogwarts.” Hermione started eating again, giving Draco a warning look about shocking statements while she was eating.

Draco rubbed his chin. “Creevey…. Creevey… Wait… isn’t he that reporter who won that prize for writing about the Giant Wars a couple of years ago?”

“The one and the same.” Hermione smiled proudly.

“I don’t remember him at Hogwarts.” Draco confessed.

“That is not surprising” Hermione said “He was a couple of years behind us.”

“Robbing the cradle in Hogwarts, Granger?” Draco waggled his eyebrows.

“No, not exactly.” She put her fork down and stared off “He was the youngest member of Dumbledore’s Army.”

“I see, and how did that happen?” Draco knew there was more to this, Hermione looked sad and far away.

“His brother was Colin Creevey.” She said quietly “The one who was always following Harry around taking pictures.”

“Right Saint Potters biggest fan.” He teased.

She stood up and walked to the balcony. “Don’t. Not this one Draco, please don’t.” He could tell she was close to tears.

“Hey” he said softly coming up behind her “That was supposed to be a joke. I thought we were past all of this.”

“Not Colin.” She said sadly, hugging him back “I am not sure Harry or I will ever be over Colin. I got him killed Draco. It was my fault. Harry had to see his tiny little body.”

“Hermione, you can’t blame yourself for every death that happened…” Draco stroked her hair to soothe her.

Hermione knew he was right, but this one was on her. “Not all of them perhaps, but this one is all me. I let him in. I gave him the coin.”

“Tell me. You know that is the only way you will ever get through it.” Draco went back to the firm tone he used when she needed to talk though something.

“I do know that. I hope Harry has someone like you.” Hermione was not quite sure where to start. “It all started with Umbridge. She was useless on purpose and we needed to teach people how to defend themselves. Colin was so desperate to learn after he was paralyzed by the Basilisk.”

Draco nodded now he knew why the name was so familiar.

Hermione continued. “He came to the first meeting with Dennis. He was so tiny but… Dennis never wanted his brother to be afraid. After everyone signed the agreement I made coins that warmed when D.A. members were needed. It could be small scale or full scale. And we trained. Hard. I think Dennis may be the youngest person ever to produce a fully corporeal patronus. The youngest one I have ever heard of any way. And I researched it. The next youngest was his brother.”

Draco thought she may very well be correct. He had never been able to produce one until after Scorpius was born. He wondered what happy memory the boys had used to produce theirs.

“Colin Creevey was the bravest boy I ever knew. His first year he was paralyzed by a Basilisk and you know what he did the next year?” Draco shook his head “He came right back, plucky little guy. That year he watched as Harry brought Cedric’s body back and proclaimed that Voldemort had returned. An evil dark wizard who wanted him and everyone like him dead. And you know what he did the next year?”

Draco whispered “He came back?”

“With his little brother in tow and joined Dumbledore’s Army. And got caught by…” Hermione hesitated.

“Me.” Said Draco sadly.

“Mmmmm…. And Umbridge tortured him and his brother. And the next year he came back and Dumbledore died. And that was the last year he was allowed to return as a student. But when I sent out a mass call for the Battle of Hogwarts he snuck right back in and fought for a school that damned sure never fought for him. And he got killed doing it.” Tears were streaming down her face now. “He cast petrificus totalus on Dennis to keep him away. The spell ended with Colin’s death. If I had taken that stupid coin away, if I had never let those two little boys join…” Hermione could not go on. How Harry had borne seeing the body she would never know.

Draco pulled her into his arms and held her while she cried saying nothing. There was nothing he could say. Colin had deserved better.

“So now whenever Dennis needs me, or just wants lunch I am there. I will always be there.” Hermione snuggled deeper into his chest.

“Out of guilt?” Draco stroked her hair.

“Because he is my friend and because it is the least I can do for Colin.” She hiccupped.

Draco wasn’t quite ready to admit he had always been jealous of the friendships the so called Golden Trio had formed and maintained.“So what is this favor he wants?”

“How do you know he wants a favor?” Hermione was genuinely perplexed.

“Because he asked to see you alone. As a reporter he must surely know about us, so it had to be something important for him to ask you out alone.” Draco said reasonably.

“Oh right.” Hermione was surprised and touched that Draco did not think anything inappropriate had been going on. “He wants me to smooth things over with Gabrielle Delacour.”

If Draco thought this strange he did not say so. “Your sister in law?”

“Yes, he really pissed her off.” Hermione giggled "She hit him.”

Draco laughed “And now he wants to be castrated by a dragon?”

“He gave me leads on my case for that information.” Hermione waved the envelope she had sat on the edge of the table.

“Your friend held information back from you to gain your cooperation?” Draco’s tone showed pure shock and amazement.

“Well, yeah, but Dennis said it was really important and…” Hermione started to defend her friend.

“No, actually, I approve. I am just surprised a Gryffindor who came up with it.” Draco grinned at her.

“You are SUCH a git.” Hermione laughed.


	21. Arrests

At work the next day Hermione went over the leads Dennis had given her. And some leads they were. Times, places, dates. Whoever Dennis’ lead was they were damned impressive. Hermione was practically rubbing her hands in glee over dinner.

Draco laughed “I never thought I would see you this excited about anything you hadn’t found in a dusty old book. Unless it was the dusty old book itself.”

She smiled up at him “Oh, I don’t know… I seem to recall being pretty excited by an afterhours office visit. I still can’t quite face my ficus.”

He grinned wickedly, “Really? Then I will have to arrange a few more office visits. And maybe bring in a new plant…”

“Draco Malfoy, don’t you dare! I have visitors in that office.” Hermione warned him.

He waggled his eyebrows “Perhaps, but none as entertaining.”

“Well… Madame Pince did come by once with a book that was being retired she wanted to give me as a gift.”

“Did you honestly just compare me to a dusty old librarian?” He laughed.

“Well... it was really more about the book…” Hermione defended.

“Of course,” Draco rolled his eyes “as if I had believed otherwise. It does seem you need a refresher course in practical application of skill over book learning.”

“Why Mr. Malfoy” she teased “I cannot imagine what you think I could practice in a physical setting that I could not read in a book.”

He moved towards her so suddenly she squealed. Scooping her up and tossing her over his shoulder he gave her a firm swat on her backside. “Then you Miss Granger, have been neglecting your studies. Shameful. What would your professors say about their Gryffindor Princess having fallen so far behind? And worse allowing the Slytherin Prince to corrupt you.”

She giggled as he carried her towards their room “Let them get their own Slytherin Prince to corrupt them. I already found mine.”

In the end, Hermione had to confess there were one or two things that required physical study.

“Sullivan, Ranquist, I need the two of you covering the front, Farrin, Solona you two will cover the rear, Arnaud and Whittaker cover the side entrance. We cannot afford to screw this up.” Hermione had planned tonight’s operation thoroughly. According to Dennis’ lead the halfblood heir of Zonko Joke Shop fortune was the target.

Zonko had joke shops all over the wizarding world and late in life had married and had a son with a muggleborn. Now, according to the lead Dennis had provided, this heir was in danger and the attack was to be carried out this night at a popular young wizarding nightclub known as The Coven.

Against her wishes Kingsley had forbidden her to be present during the actual take down. And Draco had annoyingly agreed with him. Hermione was irritated by their high handed assumption that she could not handle herself in a wand to wand fight. After all, she had helped take down Voldemort himself.

She spent the night instead pacing back and forth in her office waiting for news. A thump at her door startled her. Not a knock precisely but something was definitely thumping at her door. Opening it she found Draco with an armload of take out and a bottle of wine.

She glared at him as she stood aside to let him unload. Unperturbed he grinned back. “I knew you would not leave to get dinner, so I brought it to you.”

She had to admit to being somewhat grateful. Slightly. But she was still annoyed and let him know with her frowns.

“Now, love, you know in your position you cannot go brawling in an alley. How would it make your officers look if you were to take down all of the bad guys by yourself?” Draco asked in a tone that was half chiding half teasing.

“Plus this ridiculous notion you and Kingsley have that I will end up damaged in some way.” Hermione grumbled.

“There is that.” Draco admitted “I want you to come home with all of my favorite parts still firmly attached. After all, I intend to make liberal use of them on a regular basis.”

“You already do that” she grumbled.

“Are you complaining?” he asked with his best lascivious smirk.

“One day your charm is going to wear off Malfoy.” She warned him.

“Oh undoubtedly, but that day is not this day.” He put their dinner on her desk and stalked towards her purposefully with a gleam in his eye.

“What are you up to Malfoy?” Hermione asked backing up until her back was against the wall.

“Taking your mind off of the wait.” Draco told her pinning her to the wall. She had to admit, he was very good at taking her mind off of waiting for news.

When the arrests were made they were exactly who Hermione had expected. And somehow, not at all who she had expected at the same time.

Four pureblood sons and daughters of known Death Eaters were waiting for her to interrogate down in the cells below the ministry. Two women, Alicia and Alyssa Gibbon, the twin granddaughters of Alec Gibbon who had fired the dark mark the night Dumbledore was killed, Jude Nott, son of Theodore Nott, and Corban Yaxley Jr.

All very plausible suspects. Their parents would certainly have twisted their minds enough to hate anyone not pureblood. Looking across at Draco while looking down at the names Hermione was reminded that his own father had done the same. He had lived in the same home with Voldemort himself and yet Draco had not come out the other end the sort of man who would attack people for their blood status outside of a nightclub.

Draco watched her pace and asked quietly “Not what you were expecting?”

“No…. the names were… and should be exactly who I was expecting and still…” She resumed pacing.

He waved a hand towards the memo asking permission and she nodded dismissively. Reading the names he sighed bitterly. “They are as good as condemned then, infamous ancestry, caught red handed. The trial will be a joke.”

She frowned “I… just feel like this is too… neat. I don’t trust things that are too neatly finished.”

He looked at her in surprise “Hermione… they were caught attacking someone wearing Death Eater masks. I don’t like it because it may well restart old prejudices but… this seems pretty cut and dry.”

“What if it were you or Scorpius, would you want me to treat it so cut and dry then? What if…?” Hermione worried her bottom lip.

He came and wrapped his arms around her from behind “Love, it would never be me or Scorpius, you know that.”

She turned and buried her face into his chest and nodded. “That is the problem” she said “I DO know, I believe in you 100%. These kids have no one to believe in them.”

He stroked her back “Hermione... not everyone deserves for you to believe in them. Maybe you are too close to this. Maybe you should let someone else…”

“NO!” she cried “then they really wouldn’t get a fair investigation. I just have to be more objective.”

“Alright love, alright. I will see you at home tonight.” He collected his cloak kissed her one last time and left.


	22. Interrogations

In the interrogation room she decided to start with Jude Nott. She had known his father… sort of. As well as she had known any of the crowd that Draco used to hang around with.

Theo had, as she recalled, been something of a loner. He never joined any cliques and had no real part in the war, unlike his father. All accounts suggested that he had been much happier when his father was killed and he had done well for himself since the war ended. He had a respectable business creating magical items, brilliant at it was the word, and any stigma attached to the name Nott from his father he was well on his way to removing completely. It did not make sense for his son to be caught up in this.

Not that children always took after their parents as she well knew.

Hermione observed the suspect through the window before entering the rooms Jude was an attractive young man with black hair and piercing blue eyes. He looked confused and frightened. The arrogance of a true Death Eater even after having been caught was missing from his countenance.

Of course with no Voldemort there were no true Death Eaters, just very disturbed bigots.

Gwen Sullivan, one of the arresting officers, had accompanied her down to the interrogation chambers.

“What was your impression of the suspects Gwen?” Hermione asked the officer.

The younger officer took her time in answering, it was one of the things Hermione had come to rely on in her.

Able to think quickly and react with near preternatural precision in an emergency, Gwen could always be relied on to give a well thought out answer and her reports were straight to the point. No extra fluff to wade through.

“They were ranting about blood purity when we caught them. And their intent was made quite clear. They seemed proud of their actions gave the press quite the story to write up.” Gwen finally said carefully. It was a non answer.

“Press? The press was there?” Hermione had not been told this. “How did they know to show up?”

“I doubt they did, to be fair.” Gwen was quick to reassure her “That place is sure something. It has the elite of the elite as clientele and there was some sort of event happening. It seemed they were just in the wrong place at the right time.”

“Makes sense.” And it did, it was just unfortunate.

“When we got them here their tune changed rather quickly. They claim to have had no intent to attack anyone that night. They say they don’t know where the masks came from. They remember attacking but they claim to have no memory of planning an attack.” Gwen looked thoughtful. “Of course it is not unusual for criminals to protect their own arses once they get here but…”

“But?” Hermione continued to watch the young man and noticed his hands trembling slightly.

“I can’t put my finger on it, call it a gut instinct, and I have nothing to back up my beliefs, but …” Gwen seemed uncertain whether she should continue.

“But you believe them?” Hermione prompted.

“I don’t disbelieve them.” Gwen said careful to stay neutral.

Hermione nodded and entered the chamber.

Jude Nott looked up at her. She could not help but notice he looked terrified. She knew all of the suspects were young, only just having graduated Hogwarts. He watched her approach and then hung his head.

“Great,” he breathed “if you are here my room in Azkaban must already be booked.”

“I don’t decide guilt or innocence Mr. Nott, I am only here to get at the truth.” Hermione told him, keeping her tone even and unhurried.

“Yeah, like I have a chance at walking out of here with you on the case.” He said miserably.

She watched him awhile saying nothing. Sometimes the questions an investigator does not ask produce the best results.

Silence is a friend to law enforcement. People like to fill that silence 

She understood why Gwen was so torn, at least with this one. He just did not seem to fit the bill of what she had come to expect from bigoted Death Eater fanatics.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened.” Hermione took out parchment and a quill.

He shrugged “I really don’t know… Alicia, Allie and I planned to meet Corb and go clubbing. We had not planned to go to the Coven tonight, but it seemed as good a place as any. Then we saw a guy get up and go outside. All I knew was that we had to put on our masks and go outside and hurt him.”

The way he said “had to” bothered Hermione. “What was your prior relationship with Zachary Zonko?”

“None, I didn’t even know his name until after we were arrested.” Jude looked up.

“My officers said you were spouting some pretty radicalized ideology about blood purity when they arrived.” Hermione reminded him.

“I remember doing that but I don’t have any reason to hate muggleborns or halfbloods.” He certainly sounded sincere.

She raised an eyebrow at him “You claim you were shouting things that you don’t believe in? For what purpose?”

“I… don’t have an answer for that.” He seemed confused.

“I see…” her lips pursed.

“No, wait,” He had taken her tone as doubt. “I don’t have an answer for that because I don’t believe in that stuff. My dad raised me to believe all people were the same.”

She looked at him for a long time saying nothing before continuing her questioning.

She got nothing further from him.

Nor did she get anything very useful from the three others she interrogated.

Although part of that, she reflected, was due to their counsel arriving. She was surprised she got so far with Jude.

Later that night at home as she was going over her notes Draco knocked on her office door. She looked up smiling, glad for a moments rest when she froze. Theodore Nott was standing beside him.


	23. Theodore Nott

“Mr. Nott… this is highly inappropriate. Draco, I can’t believe you would jeopardize my career this way!” Hermione stood to ask him to leave.

Draco looked ashamed, but resolute.

“Miss Granger. I… I know it is unusual for me to approach you given the current circumstances…” Theo hesitated.

“It is flat out of line Mr. Nott.” Hermione could not believe Draco had brought Theodore to their home.

And out of line was an understatement. It could destroy her case! They would convict Jude based on perceived corruption.

He nodded. “I just need to have some news of my son. Please … Jude is my only family now.”

Hermione sighed pinching her nose. “Come in, have a seat. I cannot share any case details with you, I hope you understand that.”

“I do, I just need to know if Jude is OK and if… hell!” He muttered finally.

Her heart went out to him. No matter his past at the moment he was a father. “Please, Theo, sit down and have a brandy. It will help.”

“Thank you. I… have no idea what to say. I know my son was caught and that he screamed his confession in front of several reporters but… this is so out of character for him. Jude is a good kid. He was raised better than this.” Theo gratefully took the brandy she offered.

“He is shaken up understandably, but he is uninjured.” She tented her fingers “He did say you had raised him to believe all people were the same regardless of blood status.”

“I did my best, but this…” Theo stared miserably in to his drink.

“The other attacks, do you know where Jude was during those times?” Theo was a father, but Hermione was still an investigator.

“I am not certain exactly when the other attacks took place… they did not seem to involve me until now.” He admitted.

Hermione pulled up the information about the other attacks “I can tell you where he was Sept. 3rd. That is my birthday we were in Italy on vacation. The other two… I don’t know. At his age he rarely tells me his plans. Clearly.”

Hermione nodded. It was possible the other three had carried out that attacks themselves. One being out of town proved nothing.

But some detail half forgotten was tickling the back of her mind.

“Theo, do you know anything else, anything at all, no matter how small that could help to prove Jude’s innocence?” What WAS it she had forgotten?

“Miss Granger…” She hated how desperate he sounded.

“Hermione, please. It seems silly to stand on formalities at this point.” Hermione refilled his and Draco’s brandy.

“Hermione then.” Theo tried for a smile, it just came out pained. “Does this mean you believe my son is innocent?”

Hermione considered her next words carefully. It would be cruel to give him false hope. “I believe in the possibility of his innocence. I believe he deserves a fair and unpartial investigation.”

“Which is why I suggested you quit the case.” Draco grumbled.

Hermione ignored him.

He nodded “Hermione… Jude, he is a quiet shy boy. Azkaban will destroy him. What can I do?”

“Hire excellent counsel and follow their advice. I am afraid that is the best I can do for you.” She slid across a piece of paper “These are visiting hours. Visit your son. Hire counsel.”

Theo stood up and shook her hand. “Thank you for meeting with me, I was not certain you would have given…”

“Given that your son is a pureblood accused of attacking muggleborns and I am the bloody poster child for being muggleborn?” She guessed.

He looked embarrassed, but nodded. “Theo,” she tried for some reassurance “I am only interested in the truth. I consider this an ongoing investigation. No one has been convicted of anything yet.”

Theo nodded and Draco saw him to the floo. When he returned she was staring out the window.

Draco wrapped his arms around her and stood with her staring out into the night. He knew how much this physical contact helped her center herself in the midst of turmoil.

The press was having a field day with high profile purebloods attacking muggleborns and halfbloods.

As far as public opinion went the Death Eater Four, as the press had dubbed them, were already convicted.

And that was just the way Kingsley and the other heads preferred it.

Hermione however could not shake the feeling that something was wrong and continued digging.

She finally remembered what the missing piece was. One of the attacks had taken place at the end of the school year. If the timing was correct all four of these kids would have been on the Hogwarts Express at the time of that crime.

None of them could have been responsible for that attack. Either these kids were completely innocent. As it was not possible given that they had been caught red handed, something else was going on.

Something Hermione had absolutely no answers for.

Not yet.

She knew when she went to see the Minister to present her findings he was going to be hard to convince.

She hated being right.

“Granger,” Kingsley started “the case is closed. You and your team did an amazing job. They were caught red handed. Sometimes there is no deeper meaning. These kids are little bigoted shites who will face the full Wizengamot for their actions. I appreciate that as head of the Investigative Department you find this difficult to accept, but not everything requires more investigation.”

Ignoring him, she continued with her findings “In each instance there were four masked attackers. In each instance at least one of the group was missing from that number.”

“So what you are saying is there may be more out there?” Kingsley frowned. “The press would have a field day with this!”

That wasn’t necessarily what she was saying but anything that allowed her to keep the case open was a win in her book. “That others are involved seems to be incontrovertible, sir.”

“Very well, find the rest bring them in.”Kingsley instructed. “Let the Auror department know if you need their assistance.”

When had Kingsley become such a media apologizer? Hermione was disappointed in him, but she could not deny that many trials were won or lost based on public opinion. And this one needed to be won. Guilty or innocent.


	24. Any Dragons Are On YOU Sister!

The question of who had carried out the attempted attack on the Zonko heir was not in question. They were caught at the scene.

No, this was about why. None of the children Hermione had spoken to seemed particularly anti muggle.

Selfish and spoiled without a doubt. Young Yaxley jr, who Hermione had learned had been raised by his mother, reminded her a great deal of a young Draco. Arrogant, snobbish, definitely a bully. But ultimately a coward who had ended their first question session by asking for his mother.

She tried not to think of Draco in a jail cell terrified and wishing for his mother.

Hermione’s first thought was that the four had been Imperio’d in to acting the way they had, but when Imperio’d the victim remembers a feeling of euphoria during the incident and none remembered feeling that.

All four suspects knew enough not to admit to being involved in the other attacks, if they had been.

There was only one certain way to get the absolute truth out of them. Hermione stared down at the warrant in her hand.

Their counselors had fought her tooth and claw. It violated their client’s rights. It was immoral, if not illegal. All of the same accusations Hermione had been leveling at herself.

She had fought back. She didn’t have a choice. Somehow she had managed to successfully argue that the greater good and protection for muggleborns took precedence.

The Greater Good. Just the thought that she had actually used that argument made her physically ill.

Her heart had not been in it. The fact that she had won was probably more a testament to her fame than any genuine legal argument.

It had made her sick to fight for the ability to use a heavily controlled substance against the four, but Hermione had seen no other way to prove their innocence.

But she knew her duty. She looked from the warrant to the four identical vials before her.

Veritaserum.

How could she justify using this on four people after what had been done to her? She argued with herself that it was not the same, but wasn’t it?

She stood accused of an action she was not guilty of, but someone else was.

They stood guilty of actions she believed someone else forced them to play a part in.

She was poisoned against her will.

She was poisoning them against their will.

Her free will had been stripped from her.

She was stripping their free will.

She could see Ron’s smirking face. Even as children he had always had a way of saying “I told you so” without ever saying a word.

Her hands began to shake. She could not do this. She just could not. A tear slid down her cheek.

She had not even heard the door open when a hand fell on her own. She looked up into the concerned face of her best friend.

“Harry…” she started shakily.

“It’s alright Mione. I knew you could probably use a hand today.”

“I…I can’t do it….” Hermione choked out.

“You don’t have to.” He swept up the bottles and the warrant. “You have always been the one to get the information. I think it is time I took a turn. But if the situation calls for getting an egg from a pissed off dragon that is all on you sister.”

She laughed weakly at this and nodded.

In an hour he came back with notes.

“It seems that before each attack they met with the same woman. She was always hooded and masked but they were given something to drink and a phrase was repeated over and over again: I**magine** going into trance. **Imagine** yourself drifting on a calm and beautiful river. Picture your muscles becoming loose and limp. See yourself feeling completely relaxed. Then **imagine** enjoying the most exquisite trance experience.”

Hermione looked puzzled. “Wait, what is that? That isn’t magic…that sounds like…”

“Hypnosis?” Offered Harry.

“Precisely. But what was in this potion?” They were both skirting the particulars of what Harry had done to get this information.

“Probably something to make the hypnosis work like magic. Muggle hypnosis can’t make people act against their nature. It doesn’t control them like Imperio.”Harry tapped a finger on his chin. “But since most wizards would not know it or even think to suspect it, it would be damned near impossible to detect. Brilliant. Evil, but brilliant.”

“Where did they meet this woman? Were there others involved? When would they have met her next?” Hermione rapid fired questions at Harry.

“Hold up tigress, we have all of that right here, but you know damned well Kingsley and Draco specifically do not want you physically present during any takedowns. I am perfectly willing to go up against one for you but both? I’d rather ride another dragon out of Gringotts with Griphook firing stinging hexes at my bollocks.”

Hermione laughed at the image.

“Come on Harry, neither of us are so old as all of that. And besides this is NOT a takedown. We are going out to investigate. You are aware of my job title yes? Head of the _Investigation Department_? I am going out to investigate. Just an investigator with her trusty Auror sidekick.”

“Excuse me?” Harry choked on his tea. “_Auror sidekick_? If anything _you_ are _my_ sidekick. And who said anything about being old? For your information I was mocking you for being a girl.”

“Git!” Hermione glared at him and balled up her fist in mock outrage.

He grinned as she slugged him in the arm. “And you hit like a girl too.”

She hit him again. “OW!! A really mean girl!”

“So we are going right?” Hermione pressed.

He sighed “Fine. We are going.”

Hermione clapped her hands in glee. Finally! Something that did not make her feel morally bankrupt! This would be nice normal law enforcement work. Nothing sleazy. Nothing that made her ex-husband’s smirking face appear in her mind.

Mentally, she kicked Ron in the shins.

Harry held up a hand. “But just to be perfectly clear, absolutely NO take downs.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow. “Is that an order?”

“I am sorry, I did not realize I needed to clarify.” Harry rolled his eyes.

Hermione just grinned at him like the silly school girl she suddenly felt like.

Harry looked at her sternly. “YES it is absolutely an order.”

Hermione saluted him “Sir, yes sir! No take downs Order received sir!”

They both laughed as Harry left her office to prepare.


	25. Absolutely NOT a Takedown

Hermione had never been good at taking orders. Harry really should have known that.

It all started innocently enough.

They requisitioned disguise cloaks from the armory. These were sufficient to change their appearance to a degree they would fit in.

It was a really good thing they had access to these. “There was no way were both of them going to fit under your old invisibility cloak these days.” Hermione laughed and patted Harry on the tummy.

“HEY! I am not fat.” Harry defended pushing her hand away.

“Sure Harry, tell yourself whatever you need to in order to roll out of bed every morning.” Hermione laughed.

“ OK, I mean… sure, I may be a bit softer around the middle. At my age that is to be expected… and… Oh shut up.” Harry glared as Hermione nodded her head in a way that was far more mocking than wise.

“It is all Molly’s fault, I swear.” Harry grumbled.

A short trip later and Mr. and Miss John Q Wizard were in Diagon Alley taking a trip down a very dark corridor.

They entered the little dive pub in Knocturn Alley, well aware that no decent witch or wizard should be caught dead in this place.

Or worse, dead was exactly the way that any unsuspecting thrill seeker would be caught in this place.

It was the sort of spot where you could just as quickly and easily buy a pint of poison as you could buy a pint of butterbeer.

Dodgy place, indeed, Hermione remembered Hagrid’s words of many years ago.

But as law enforcement she was also well aware that teenagers and young adults sometimes make very foolish choices to show how “with it” they were.

And a trip to Knockturn Alley to drink in a pub that their parents would not approve of was not out of the norm.

It wasn’t long before four well dressed young people came in, two young men and two young women.

Their target certainly liked them in pairs.

The foursome had not been there more than half an hour. They were enjoying their drinks and laughing nervously when their group was approached by one of the filthy denizens who inhabited this place.

Harry and Hermione would have ignored him as nothing more than a beggar if they had not heard him clearly and distinctly say “Nice, drifting on a calm and beautiful river isn’t it?” and the four got up to follow him outside.

They looked a bit glassy eyed and dazed. Far more than the few drinks they had been sipping with more suspicion than gusto, would account for.

Hermione knew they could not wait. She stood and motioned Harry to follow her.

“Investigating, watching, calling for back up, that is the plan, remember?” Harry reminded her, looking to where the group had disappeared a bit uncomfortably.

It was clear he wanted to go, but he did not want to take Hermione. Something she found incredibly insulting.

“And so you want to sit back while he kidnaps those four young kids and forces them to do his bidding? Harry James Potter!” Hermione hissed under her breath so as not to give their identities away. “Don’t you DARE!”

He sighed and followed her. He guessed he was the sidekick after all.

They left the pub and were just in time to see the man leading the teens around the building in to an alley.

“Come on.” Hermione said forcefully, and hurried after them.

In the alley Hermione shouted “Stop in the name of the Ministry!”

As she did so her cloak caught on a drain spout and pulled it from her head revealing her true face to the perpetrator.

Ah well, she thought yanking it free, it was not like she had any further reason to conceal her identity.

At the end of the alley was the female figure they had been told to expect covered head to toe with a mask on that indeed resembled a Death Eater’s mask.

Harry pointed his wand at her and ordered her to freeze while Hermione concentrated on the man with the young witches and wizards.

“Ey yer that war hero bitch what kneed me inta guts makin’ me puke while ye were defendin’ that pureblood bitch!” The masked man shouted, suddenly seeming to recognize her true face. Being recognized was nothing new, but what was he on about?

Hermione was somewhat caught off guard by this odd comment when the man raised his wand and shouted “Segmentum Viscus!”

She could feel a deep slice through her stomach that she knew had gone all the way through to her intestines.

With a grunt she collapsed. A hand pressed to her midsection was soon covered in blood that refused to be staunched.

Harry had to make a snap decision. He shouted “Petrificus Totalus” at the man who attacked Hermione letting the woman at the end of the alley escape and dropped to the ground at Hermione’s feet.

It was serious. Merlin, for a moment he thought she was already gone, and then he heard her groan.

It was the sweetest sound he had ever heard. “Hang on Mione, I am here, just… hang on.”

“Is she…” One of the young witches who had been led to the alley started nervously.

“Get out and don’t you ever come back here!” He snapped at the group of terrified youngsters.

They ran off quickly.

Harry knew Hermione would bleed out if he did not do something fast. He sent his patronus ahead to St. Mungos to prepare them bound her as best he could and prepared her for side apparition. He grabbed the masked man who had attacked her as well.

“Harry… tell Draco and my children…” Harry did not like the bubbling quality of her voice, or the blood that trickled from the corner of her mouth. “Tell them I love them and…”

“Fuck that Hermione, you tell them yourself, don’t you even think about dying on me.” Harry shouted at her. “I owe you one hell of a lecture for this shit and you are NOT getting out of it by dying!”

Harry apparated all three of them to St Mungos. He was soaked in Hermione’s blood. He heard Hermione groan.

“We are here, Mione, you are going to be OK.” Harry said this more as a prayer than any reassurance.

Hermione smiled as best she could through the pain. “Love you too… Harry… Best friend… brother.” Was all she managed to murmur before she passed out. The Healers whisked her away and the security on site took the masked attacker off of his hands.

Harry sat down hard in a chair. He would have to owl Draco. And the Ministry. And Ron, or Molly… or someone… to bring the kids. Just in case.


	26. St Mungos

The first time she started to come to Hermione could not open her eyes or move. The pain was excruciating. She had trouble at first remembering where she was. Then… the alley! HARRY!! Was he OK? She started to try to thrash around and suddenly hands were on her calming her.

“Healer Ambrose, she is waking up!”

“No, it is too soon, give her two more vials and monitor her closely, she has lost too much blood and we need to…” this was as far as she got before everything went black again.

The next time was better. She could hear and move her right hand. As soon as she did it was grabbed. She knew that hand it was as familiar to her as her own. “Dr..a..co…” she said weakly.

“I’m here love, I’m here.” She felt his head against her shoulder.

“Drac..o? Ha…r..ry?” she hated how weak she sounded.

“Harry is fine love, not a scratch on him.” Which is why he sported a black eye the first day, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her that.

“So st..up…id cou..ld h..ave got h..im ki…led.” She started to cry.

“No baby don’t, he is fine I promise. He does this for a living, remember?” she felt hands wipe away her tears “If you get worked up they are going to throw me out and they won’t let me back this time if I hit another healer.”

“Drac..o…” even as weak as she was he could hear the exasperation in her voice.

“Sleep baby. I will be here when you wake up.”

“No. S…end Ha..rry. Y..ou go sle..ep ..eat. Or..ders.” she squeezed his hand. “Le..ast …y..ou ca..n do.”

“Least I can do?” He was amused at how bossy she managed to sound even in her weakened state.

“For hi…t..ting him.” It wasn’t a question.

“How did you know?” Hell, how did she ALWAYS know? Was she some kind of seer?

“He…’s not h..ere.” She whispered.

Smartest witch of her age indeed.

When next she woke Harry was by her side and she felt much stronger.

“Harry…” she all but whispered his name, so relieved she was to see him unhurt.

He had been curled up in a chair sleeping but as soon as he heard her voice he rushed to her side “Mione… oh Merlin am I glad to see you awake. You scared the hell out of me. Don’t you ever do that again. Merlin I am glad you are alright. I am going to kill you for putting me through that!”

Hermione laughed weakly at how relieved and angry he sounded. He was so glad she would be OK, largely so he could throttle her himself she suspected.

She glanced over to see him running his hand through his hair. “When you get out of here we are going to sit down with a procedural manual and a dictionary and we are looking up the words DEFINITELY, Not, A and TAKEDOWN.”

She knew she had this lecture coming and worse. “I am so sorry Harry, I could have got you killed. I…”

“ME? Hermione you are lying in a bed in St. Mungos barely repaired. That spell lacerated your intestines, liver and ruptured your spleen and you lost so much blood I thought you were dead when I brought you in!” Hermione knew it had been bad… but this? “Never, never again. I can’t do this again.”

She knew how close he was to weeping and just took his hand. “I swear Harry, nice safe desk jobs from here on out.”

He hugged her “I have to owl Malfoy, he promised to do worse than blacken my eye if I didn’t.”

“Wait damned it, did you get them?” she had to know this wasn’t all for nothing.

He sighed and shook his head “We did not get the woman, but we got the three men. They are swearing there was no woman that we are delusional. They are taking all the blame.”

“Who are they? Were the hypnotized as well?” Were they someone’s children she wanted to ask, but the one who attacked her, he was no child.

“Doubt it, but we met them before. Back when Astoria was alive. It was that day in Diagon Alley. They accosted her when she had Scorpius in the pram.”

She thought back “Stan or Steve or something…” she and Draco had talked about it a few times but the details got muddled.

“Close, Stu.” A man Harry was personally planning to make miserable for what would hopefully be a very brief life.

“Those three aren’t smart enough to spell hypnotize let alone perform it.” Hermione frowned.

“I agree, and Kingsley has now learned you are still the brightest witch of your age and says he will never doubt your word again.” Kingsley for a moment returned to the man they had all known from their Order days when he found out how seriously Hermione had been hurt.

Hermione scoffed at this.

“Hey take what you can get. It is better than he gives me. All I am the Chosen One for these days is paperwork.” They both laughed.

Harry went out to owl Draco and within half an hour he was there with Rose and Scorpius who were crowded around her in moments, each eager to hug her and verify she was indeed alive.

Rose Hermione noted with interest was comforted by Scorpius when she began to cry. She raised an eyebrow at Draco but he just shrugged.

After a few minutes of this Healer Ambrose came in and told them all Hermione needed her rest and they could come back tomorrow. “When can she come home Healer?” asked Scorpius, the official spokesman of their clan. “It will be at least a week if all goes well, and what will help it go well is plenty of rest.”

“I will take them to the floo and be right back.” Draco said this to the Healer she noted and shot him a warning look which the Healer pointedly ignored.

Hermione was well on the mend but the Healers insisted she stay in the hospital the full week and Draco was NOT on her side in this.

On top of being trapped they positively refused to allow her to bring any work to the hospital with her. They would allow her books, but that was all. Liking to keep things tidy she asked them to bring her bag with the extendable charm “Which books do you want me to place inside, love?”

“None, I have copies of all of my books stored in there in case of an emergency.”

“What emergency could you possibly expect that require that blasted bag to be full of copies of all of your books?” Books, always with the books.

She waved a hand around the room causing him to roll his eyes. “Only you woman.”

What she did not tell him was that she had potion ingredients, emergency rations, it was a complete bug out kit. A left over from the war to always be prepared.

When he brought it back she dug in and grabbed her first book, “Challenges in Charming” and happily snuggled up to read.

Draco chuckled “As you are occupied, I am going to go send an owl to update potter and the kids on your condition.” He kissed her forehead.

He stopped at the door and looked back , pleased that she had some color back and was looking better.“I love you, you infuriating woman.”

She smiled “And I love you, you arrogant arse.”


	27. Gone

Almost as soon as Draco had gone a nervous looking young woman stopped at the entrance of her door and cleared her throat slightly “Miss Granger?”

Hermione looked up, the woman looked familiar but she could not quite place her, perhaps a Ministry worker… She was well dressed, impeccable makeup. Not the sort one would expect to see standing in a room wringing her hands afraid to come in.

Then she realized who this woman was.

“What do you want? Is there something else from my life that you would like to take?” Hermione glared at the younger woman. “I left a bit of my pudding, are there any more of my leftovers you would like a bite of?

Cecilia looked down at the floor “I just wanted to come and apologize to say that I was in a very dark place at the time. I… that does not excuse what I did, but perhaps this will come some way towards making reparations.” She held up a globe, it looked rather like a snow globe Hermione thought.

“What is it?” Hermione was suspicious of course, she had just been attacked after all, but she was in a fully warded hospital, had her wand in hand and Draco was little more than a shout away.

Cecilia approached cautiously “It is supposed to provide information on a pressing concern or matter. I… I know this latest case has been difficult, I thought maybe if I could offer this globe that has been in my family for years, maybe it could help.”

“A crystal ball?” Hermione scoffed.

“I… perhaps it was foolish of me, I just wanted to try to help, our children are siblings and yet because of the harm I have done I cannot bear for Ron to even meet his daughter. I just want to move on with my life.”

Hermione felt for the woman who looked very young, she had been fooled by Ron once herself. “It was very thoughtful of you to want to help. I have no powers of divination mind you, but here let me try.”

Cecilia brought the ball forward and dropped it into Hermione’s hand. As soon as she touched it she and everything she had been touching vanished. The young woman smiled in a very self satisfied way, scooped up the ball placed it in her bag and strolled out.

When Draco returned there was no trace of her anywhere.

“What do you mean she is just GONE?!” shouted Harry. ‘She can’t just have disappeared. Patients have wards put on them to prevent their apparating out of hospital rooms”

“I mean when I came back she and her bloody bag and everything else in that bed were gone. Just not there.” Draco was pacing up and down in the room which was now full of Aurors .

“Her bag? Which bag?” Harry turned very pale as he asked this.

Draco did not like the panic tingeing Harry’s voice. “The one she says she keeps copies of all her books in, why?”

“Her bug out bag? She asked for her BUG OUT BAG?!” Harry was shouting now “I hate to ask you these questions, but now it is really important that you tell me the 100% truth. Had you two fought today? At all? Even in the slightest?”

“No, not even in the least? Why?”

“Had she mentioned anyone wanting to harm her?” Harry started pacing.

“She was in here because someone wanted to harm her, Harry!” Harry was making Draco even more daft by running his hands through his hair as he paced.

“No, they wanted to harm whoever came after them and it was just an added treat that he got to attack Hermione.” Draco growled.

“I know it is hard but try to calm down just a little mate.”

“What the hell is going on Harry and what the hell does that ruddy bag have to do with it?”

“That bag saved our lives more than once. It was the bloody secret to our success. That bag and Hermione. We would have died without both of them. She has kept it fully stocked since the war. Extra copies of essential books, potion ingredients, healing potions, clothing, food, you name it it is in that damned bag. So you see why I worry that she asked for it?”

“OK yeah, yeah I get it but all she told me was that she wanted books.”Draco frowned trying to remember every detail. “She was annoyed that the healer wouldn’t let her work from here and that I agreed with him, but I doubt that caused her to flee with this bug out bag.”

“No, workaholic wives stay to nag.” Draco blinked when Harry referred to Hermione as a wife.

As in his wife.

She wasn’t, but Draco had every intention of remedying this minor detail as soon as possible.

A young Auror came in “Anything Jebsen?”

“No sir, we checked the autopensieve from the last her healer left to when Mr. Malfoy reported her disappearance, we only see one visitor go in, Officer Granger does not leave with her.” Autopensieves relied on the memories witches or wizards who had the Dementor’s Kiss applied. Their lives could still have some meaning. Harry had been against their use… until now.

“Visitor?” Draco asked “what visitor? All of her approved visitors were coming with you today, Harry.” They had not told Hermione but only those on a specially approved list who had to come with Harry through a shower at the Ministry that removed all enchantments were allowed to visit.

They ran to the autopensieve to view this visitor.

“Cecilia!” they both shouted at the same time immediately recognizing Ron’s ex-lover.

Draco’s look turned positively lethal. “I will tear that witch apart with my own two hands.”

“She could not have got far with her.” Harry tried to reassure Draco. “Even as injured as she was, Hermione would have fought tooth and nail to keep from being taken.”

“But how did Cecilia get her out of here to start with?” Draco turned back to the autopensieve. “Only Cecilia leaves the room.”

Harry thought about it. “I suppose she could have used an invisibility cloak, but she doesn’t appear to be dragging anyone.”

“Unless she was imperiused. Cecilia could have got her out that way.” Draco looked green. He knew how much Hermione feared having her free will stolen from her.

“Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.” Harry cautioned. “There could be any number of explanations. We will have the entire hospital and grounds searched.”

Jebsen looked uncomfortably at her superior. “Mr. Potter, we have already…”

“Then search it AGAIN!” Harry shouted, making the young officer jump.

“Yes sir, right away.” Jebsen turned and all but ran from the room.

Draco would have found her reaction amusing if the circumstances had not been so dire.

“We need to find this Cecilia.” Draco said grimly.

“Ron…” Harry hesitated. “Ron should know where she lives.”

“We need to move fast then, before she escapes.”

Draco was nearly in a blind panic. He could not lose her. His life after Astoria’s death had been so bleak and dark. He could not go back to that.

He would find her and by Merlin she would never leave his sight again!


	28. There Is No Cecilia

Almost as soon as Draco had gone a nervous looking young woman stopped at the entrance of her door and cleared her throat slightly “Miss Granger?”

Hermione looked up, the woman looked familiar but she could not quite place her, perhaps a Ministry worker… She was well dressed, impeccable makeup. Not the sort one would expect to see standing in a room wringing her hands afraid to come in.

Then she realized who this woman was.

“What do you want? Is there something else from my life that you would like to take?” Hermione glared at the younger woman. “I left a bit of my pudding, are there any more of my leftovers you would like a bite of?

Cecilia looked down at the floor “I just wanted to come and apologize to say that I was in a very dark place at the time. I… that does not excuse what I did, but perhaps this will come some way towards making reparations.” She held up a globe, it looked rather like a snow globe Hermione thought.

“What is it?” Hermione was suspicious of course, she had just been attacked after all, but she was in a fully warded hospital, had her wand in hand and Draco was little more than a shout away.

Cecilia approached cautiously “It is supposed to provide information on a pressing concern or matter. I… I know this latest case has been difficult, I thought maybe if I could offer this globe that has been in my family for years, maybe it could help.”

“A crystal ball?” Hermione scoffed.

“I… perhaps it was foolish of me, I just wanted to try to help, our children are siblings and yet because of the harm I have done I cannot bear for Ron to even meet his daughter. I just want to move on with my life.”

Hermione felt for the woman who looked very young, she had been fooled by Ron once herself. “It was very thoughtful of you to want to help. I have no powers of divination mind you, but here let me try.”

Cecilia brought the ball forward and dropped it into Hermione’s hand. As soon as she touched it she and everything she had been touching vanished. The young woman smiled in a very self satisfied way, scooped up the ball placed it in her bag and strolled out.

When Draco returned there was no trace of her anywhere.

“What do you mean she is just GONE?!” shouted Harry. ‘She can’t just have disappeared. Patients have wards put on them to prevent their apparating out of hospital rooms”

“I mean when I came back she and her bloody bag and everything else in that bed were gone. Just not there.” Draco was pacing up and down in the room which was now full of Aurors .

“Her bag? Which bag?” Harry turned very pale as he asked this.

Draco did not like the panic tingeing Harry’s voice. “The one she says she keeps copies of all her books in, why?”

“Her bug out bag? She asked for her BUG OUT BAG?!” Harry was shouting now “I hate to ask you these questions, but now it is really important that you tell me the 100% truth. Had you two fought today? At all? Even in the slightest?”

“No, not even in the least? Why?”

“Had she mentioned anyone wanting to harm her?” Harry started pacing.

“She was in here because someone wanted to harm her, Harry!” Harry was making Draco even more daft by running his hands through his hair as he paced.

“No, they wanted to harm whoever came after them and it was just an added treat that he got to attack Hermione.” Draco growled.

“I know it is hard but try to calm down just a little mate.”

“What the hell is going on Harry and what the hell does that ruddy bag have to do with it?”

“That bag saved our lives more than once. It was the bloody secret to our success. That bag and Hermione. We would have died without both of them. She has kept it fully stocked since the war. Extra copies of essential books, potion ingredients, healing potions, clothing, food, you name it it is in that damned bag. So you see why I worry that she asked for it?”

“OK yeah, yeah I get it but all she told me was that she wanted books.”Draco frowned trying to remember every detail. “She was annoyed that the healer wouldn’t let her work from here and that I agreed with him, but I doubt that caused her to flee with this bug out bag.”

“No, workaholic wives stay to nag.” Draco blinked when Harry referred to Hermione as a wife.

As in his wife.

She wasn’t, but Draco had every intention of remedying this minor detail as soon as possible.

A young Auror came in “Anything Jebsen?”

“No sir, we checked the autopensieve from the last her healer left to when Mr. Malfoy reported her disappearance, we only see one visitor go in, Officer Granger does not leave with her.” Autopensieves relied on the memories witches or wizards who had the Dementor’s Kiss applied. Their lives could still have some meaning. Harry had been against their use… until now.

“Visitor?” Draco asked “what visitor? All of her approved visitors were coming with you today, Harry.” They had not told Hermione but only those on a specially approved list who had to come with Harry through a shower at the Ministry that removed all enchantments were allowed to visit.

They ran to the autopensieve to view this visitor.

“Cecilia!” they both shouted at the same time immediately recognizing Ron’s ex-lover.

Draco’s look turned positively lethal. “I will tear that witch apart with my own two hands.”

“She could not have got far with her.” Harry tried to reassure Draco. “Even as injured as she was, Hermione would have fought tooth and nail to keep from being taken.”

“But how did Cecilia get her out of here to start with?” Draco turned back to the autopensieve. “Only Cecilia leaves the room.”

Harry thought about it. “I suppose she could have used an invisibility cloak, but she doesn’t appear to be dragging anyone.”

“Unless she was imperiused. Cecilia could have got her out that way.” Draco looked green. He knew how much Hermione feared having her free will stolen from her.

“Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.” Harry cautioned. “There could be any number of explanations. We will have the entire hospital and grounds searched.”

Jebsen looked uncomfortably at her superior. “Mr. Potter, we have already…”

“Then search it AGAIN!” Harry shouted, making the young officer jump.

“Yes sir, right away.” Jebsen turned and all but ran from the room.

Draco would have found her reaction amusing if the circumstances had not been so dire.

“We need to find this Cecilia.” Draco said grimly.

“Ron…” Harry hesitated. “Ron should know where she lives.”

“We need to move fast then, before she escapes.”

Draco was nearly in a blind panic. He could not lose her. His life after Astoria’s death had been so bleak and dark. He could not go back to that.

He would find her and by Merlin she would never leave his sight again!


	29. The Prison

Hermione woke on a cold hard ground. She was glad her wounds were mostly healed or she never would have been able to stand as well as she did. Leaning against a tree she tried to get her bearings. Off in the distance she could see lights and started to stumble that way. After a bit she noticed she was neither terribly cold nor hot. Everything everywhere seemed a perfect temperature. That wasn’t too bad.

A few moments later she spied a rider on a broom heading towards her. Ducking behind a tree she waited. Soon she heard a familiar voice cal out “Is anyone there? It’s OK, I am just here to help.”

GEORGE! Thank Merlin, just in case she peeked around the tree and saw him looking around.

Running out she threw herself into his startled arms “George! Oh I am so happy to see you! Did you get caught too? Where are we?”

He held her close for a moment and said quietly there is a name I haven’t hear in some time.” Then pushed her out at arm length to look down at her “Hermione Granger, you grew up better than I expected and I had a bet on it too!”

She looked at him puzzled, why on earth was George acting like they hadn’t seen each other in years instead of weeks? Then she looked closer and gasped. Two ears. “Fr….Fred? It can’t be you! You are…. You died! Oh Merlin, am I dead?! I can’t be dead I still have work to do!”

“Only you Hermione Granger would skiv off the afterlife for work.” Fred laughed “No you are not dead, neither am I for that matter. At least I don’t think so. I still have to eat sleep and perform all of the necessary functions of life. If I am dead this is the crappiest afterlife ever!”

She threw herself in to his arms once again “Oh Fred, you… you can’t imagine what it has been like since you…. George is going to be so thrilled.”

Fred looked at her sadly. “I am afraid not my dear, I have been here twenty three years and as far as I can tell, there is no way out.”

Hermione started to say something when a small screen popped up next to her and the face of Cecilia appeared looking quite smug “Oh good, I see you have found a friend. I hope you two are quite cozy because you are never leaving.”

“Why are you doing this to me?! To US?!” shouted Hermione at the image, only slightly surprised that the woman appeared to be using a muggle video screen. After all, this was the same woman who was using muggle hypnosis combined with magic to control people.

“Your friend? I have done nothing. I don’t care why he is in here.” Cecilia laughed maliciously “You? This is purely justice.”

“Justice?! For Ron? You could have had him. I wasn’t interested after he already had you!” Hermione was outraged at this woman’s behavior.

Fred watched the two with interest. He had never heard anyone from the outside speak here before. Maybe he could use this…

“Not for Ronald Weasley, you stupid girl. Ronald was part of the justice you had coming. A means to an end before I destroyed your life by bringing you here. No this is purely YOUR doing. The justice YOU have coming to you for daring to falsely imprison me for an entire year!” The woman sounded like a raving lunatic. Hermione was beginning to fear for the child she was raising.

“Imprison you? I don’t even know you, how could I have done any such thing, the Wizengamot…” Hermione wracked her brain, could Cecilia be part of an old case?

“Not that pack of fools, YOU!” The woman started changing; it almost looked like she was melting. Hermione recognized a polyjuice potion ending when she saw it. When the woman was done standing before her was a petite blonde with elaborately curled hair and a heavy jowled face who was putting on jeweled glasses. _Rita Skeeter._

Hermione gasped in outrage “You bitch! If you think you can keep me in here, you are very much mistaken. Draco will come for me and when he does you are going to be happy to be in Azkaban!”

“Oh, I don’t think so.” the camera panned out to show a desk only the sizes were oddly out of proportion to her eye. Everything looked incredibly large. Almost as if she were looking at it from … inside a snow globe…. “No one knows where you are or even that this lovely little ball is actually a very tiny prison for undesirables that someone either wants to study or just keep to amuse themselves for a very, very long time.” She looked positively demonic.

“We’ll see. You see, Draco is one thing first and foremost. He is a Malfoy. And no one; and I do mean NO ONE steals from a Malfoy.” Hermione hoped she was right.

The screen went black.

Fred was looking at her with interest. “So… it seems like a few things have changed since I have been here…”

“Yeah… but don’t worry, Draco WILL find me.” Hermione patted his arm.

“Draco… Draco Malfoy is the one we are relying on to rescue us? The one you referred to as a vile, evil cockroach?” Fred looked dubious.

“Those traits are precisely what I am counting on now. But right now…”she leaned against a tree “I am still not quite healed from her goons attacking me.”

Fred immediately looked concerned “Let me take you back to the others” he carefully scooped her up and settled her across his lap on the broom.

“Others?” she snuggled into his warmth, she didn’t need it for the temperature, but she definitely needed the comfort.

“You’ll see.” Fred assured her.

He flew her to a small village where approximately fifty people lived. Of all ages. “Who are they? Where did they come from?”

“We were all brought here during the war. We assumed our side had won because the threatened experiments never occurred.” Fred carefully set her down.

“Experiments?”

“Yes, they took people they found ‘interesting’ in order to perform magical experiments…”

“But Fred, I saw you die. I went to your funeral. We definitely buried you!”

“You sure did, I was in a comatose state. I came to in that box. Fortunately, or not depending on your perspective, Death Eaters were already digging me up and bringing me here to carry on Voldemort’s will, or so they said. Trying to resurrect him I imagine. I was brought because I was a twin, they wanted to see if that could be useful. Now your turn.” Fred poured her a glass of water.

Hermione spent the next several hours in a small pub much like the Three Broomsticks telling Fred everything that had happened since his “death.” She was surprised that the drinks and food kept flowing. “They wanted us alive and complacent.”

“That is sick. I mean I am glad you were not starved to death, but the reason…” Hermione shuddered.

Fred shrugged. “Yeah, not great, but at least the children born here…”

Hermione gasped. “People had children here?!”

“Life and love find a way. So… you and Malfoy, huh?” he grinned at her in a way that almost made her start crying again.

“You aren’t bothered about Ron?” She fretted.

“That he used veritaserum on you? Yes, that you dumped him? No. We all knew you were too good for him I am amazed you stayed together as long as you did.”

“He wrecked a twenty year marriage to sleep with Rita Skeeter of all people, even if she was disguised as a hot twenty something year old.” It was almost funny.

“Yeah, bad on so, so many levels.” Fred looked nauseated.


	30. The Perfume

Harry and Draco gathered all of the kids at the Manor.

Albus, Scorpius and Rose were the ones who had received the letters so they were the ones answering their questions.

“Let’s go over this one more time. Try to remember anything you can. What were the items they asked for?” Draco led the discussion.

“They wanted a crystal ball, Dad.” Scorpius told him with a frown of concentration.

He, Albus and Rose were sitting on the coach trying their best to help figure out where Hermione could be and how to track down Cecilia.

“A crystal ball? Why a crystal ball?” demanded Harry.

“It isn’t like they spilled their life story to us Dad,” said Albus in frustration. “Do blackmailers usually give reasons for their reasons for their demands?”

“Don’t get smart Albus Severus Potter, we need to find your Aunt!” Harry snapped.

“I know Dad, I’m sorry, we want to find Aunt Hermione as well, but honestly, we were just given a list of a few things.” Albus was a little surprised, his father had never shouted at him before.

“It’s OK Albus” said Draco, far more calmly than he felt at the moment. He knew snapping at the children would not be effective. “Just tell us what they wanted.”

“We have the letters they sent us, that will tell you what they wanted.” Chimed in Rose.

Harry tried not to growl at them “Yes, Rose I am certain seeing the letters would be a tremendous help. Please bring us the letters.”

When they left Harry dropped his head into his hands “I can’t believe how I left things with her. I lectured her. I didn’t tell her how much she means to me and now she is gone… I may never have another chance.”

“SHE IS NOT GONE!” shouted Draco startling Harry. “She is just… misplaced. I am going to find her and you bet get your shit together and help me.”

“Yeah….ok. You’re right. I got this.” Harry lifted up his head and tried to look like the bloody hero everyone called him.

Draco thought he looked ready to faint. He could scarcely credit this man with being the savior of the wizarding world. He was not good in a crisis; clearly no one had exaggerated when they said Hermione was the brains of the outfit.

“You better, because right now, the woman I love is out there injured. Someone took her. NO ONE steals from a Malfoy. NO ONE!” This was the arrogant bastard Harry remembered from school.

He was glad to have him on their side this time.

The kids brought back three letters.

The first demanded that the blackmailer be brought a book that documented how to use muggles own weapons against them enhanced by magic.

Harry looked up sharply “Did you give her this?”

“Who?” Asked Scorpius “No, of course not.”

“That book isn’t here Harry, it is in our vaults, I don’t even know how she knew it existed.”

“WHO?!” Shouted Albus.

“Never mind who,” said Draco “what was next?”

“An extender stone.” Read Harry.

“Innocuous enough, it lengthens the time of a spell or potions. They are expensive and rather rare, but not impossible or terribly difficult to find.”

“OK…. Perhaps for the potions they used. Next?”

“Something called a ‘Carcerem Orbis’ here there is a picture.”

Draco became even paler than usual. “Are you sure that’s what it says?”

“Yes, right here.” He showed Draco the letter “Why?”

“It means Prison World. They are small orbs, the size of a snow globe, like in the picture the blackmailer included. They are self contained prisons. The inmates are fed, given anything they want really, but escape is impossible, and finding them nearly so due to their size.”

He and Harry stared at each other in shock and horror.

Harry started to throw up his hands with the papers in them when he stopped and smelled the papers. “There is a scent on here, a woman’s perfume.”

“Not surprising, we know a woman is behind this, we even know who she is, or who she claimed to be.”

“I know this scent.” Said Harry looking slightly nauseated.

“Know it? From where? And hundreds of women in this town must where that scent at any given time.”

Harry shook his head “None of the women I know, the smell makes me feel ill. I would sure as hell have noticed that.”

“OK… but how do we know it is connected to where you smelled it before?”

“We don’t but what else do we have to go on?” Harry looked at him desperately.

Draco, just as desperate nodded “OK, let’s find the scent, there are several perfumeries near here.”

They went to shop after shop but none recognized it. No one would admit to having created such a vile smelling perfume any way.

Finally in one tiny little out of the way place that they almost overlooked they found their answer.

The little witch behind the counter said “Oh, I know that smell alright. Vile stuff. Witch mixes it herself, she wanted an obnoxious smell, said it made people she was interviewing want to get away from her. It puts them off their guard. She likes to take them in to small places you see. Said it makes them forget to be cautious and they say things they wouldn’t normally. She is as vile as the scent she mixes.”

Draco and Harry looked at each other.

Draco was at a loss. Interviews? What interviews? Were they looking for an investigator? A reporter? Who was this woman?

Harry suddenly remembered a small room he was dragged in to fourth year for an interview. This smell permeated the confined space.

The falsely sympathetic simpering evil witch who had interviewed him.

The one who spent his whole fourth year trying to make his life a living hell.

Well, more of a living hell than the Tri-Wizard and the return of Voldemort.

But it didn’t make sense. Had she loaned Cecilia her perfume? Why?

Then he remembered the little jar with a beetle in it Hermione had shown him.

And he knew why Hermione had been targeted.

It all suddenly made a sick sort of sense.

Even the attacks on halfbloods and muggleborns were probably part of the elaborate revenge scheme.

His eyes grew round. “I know who we are looking for!”


	31. The Capture

Less than an hour later they had Rita Skeeter at wand point with a half dozen Aurors behind them.

They had found her calmly sitting in her office work on her next article.

The globe was sitting on the desk next to her.

In his desperation to find Hermione, Harry made a mistake, instead of physically going for the globe he tried “Accio prison!”

Nothing happened except the Rita grabbed the globe immediately.

She was holding the globe in her hands threatening to smash it.

Now they were in a tense standoff and all Harry wanted was to get Hermione out of this mad woman’s literal hands before she was killed.

“Give me a reason Potter. Make one move. I am getting out of here, and until I am safe, I am taking this with me.” The woman looked deranged.

Harry knew he would have to play it cool in order to rescue Hermione from her.

He wasn’t certain that such a magical artifact could be smashed by simply throwing it to the ground, he didn’t want to take any chances.

“You have thought of everything, haven’t you Skeeter?” He was stalling for time until he could think of a way to get that globe away from her.

“I was always far more clever than you three idiots.” She sneered.

“You hypnotized Ron in to having the affair with you, right?” Harry knew if he moved an inch towards her she would react.

With a bored expression Harry looked around the office. How quickly could he get to her? How quick would her response be?

As he looked around he saw an award for her little gossip column. It was from the Quidditch World Cup where she had been far more interested in the antics of his godson and niece than in the actual game.

Although she did manage to get in a few digs about Viktor Krum and Hermione.

Krum the seeker… Harry started to formulate a plan.

But he had to wander around and make certain Draco would have a clear line of sight without alerting Rita that he was up to anything.

“Oh ho, so figured out that it wasn’t magic did you?” Rita laughed. “Magic is far easier to detect. No one ever expects muggle methods. But very good Potter, yes, and it wasn’t as difficult to convince him to break his vows as you might think. If I had to guess I would say he was looking for a way to escape his wife.” She sounded proud of herself.

That was her error. Harry knew he could use her vanity against her.

“Brilliant really, it took us months to figure it out.” Harry tried to sound impressed and a bit self deprecating.

He moved just a bit. Not towards her but to the side.

Rita watched him warily but did not react.

Draco had no idea yet what Harry was playing at.

“You sound like you are bloody well congratulating her!” Draco accused.

Harry shrugged nonchalantly. “I may not like it but I can appreciate a plan well thought out.”

Draco looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

Harry almost laughed. If Draco thought this was crazy wait until he saw what Harry had planned.

“OK, so walk me through this. I can understand how Ron fits in to your little revenge plot, but why the attacks?” Harry was genuinely curious about this.

“Well now, having Little Miss Investigator move on happily with her life with a new man wouldn’t do now would it?” Rita cackled “But Malfoy wasn’t as easy to seduce. I needed another way.”

Harry looked sharply at Draco who shrugged. “Lots of women hit on me. I can’t be expected to remember all of them can I?”

Harry rolled his eyes.

It was now or never. He could see Rita getting more agitated.

Draco had a clear path to Rita. Or more specifically, to the globe she held in a death grip.

Harry took a deep breath. “I hope you are a better Quidditch player than you used to be Malfoy. EXPELLIARMUS!”

Draco still had the reflexes of a seeker and managed to catch the globe as it came flying towards them.

“Got her Harry.” Shouted Draco relieved.

Harry held his wand under the witches throat “Now, give me the spell that releases her.”

Rita laughed “Not a chance. She will rot in there and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Harry smiled.

It would have chilled Rita’s heart if madness had not taken hold so deeply.

“Perhaps not, but she can.” Harry jerked his head towards the door.

Stepping through was one of the feared hit witches employed by the Aurors .

Harry had asked for her to accompany him in case he had to have Rita persuaded to tell them where the globe was.

Now he was glad he had.

Hit witches and wizards were authorized, under very specific circumstances to use the unforgiveables when a situation warranted it. Such as when a life was in danger and the perpetrator could be persuaded by no other means to cooperate.

And Harry, as head of the department, was the one who determined when it was warranted.

He had definitely decided this case warranted the use of fair means or foul. He had given her a chance. It was her fault she refused to take it.

The witch hauled Rita out of her office and took her… somewhere.

Harry had never really wanted to know where their special interrogation rooms were located.

In fact, he had been considering petitioning to have their department disbanded.

At the moment he was very glad he had not got around to that particular task yet.

Draco was sitting in a chair cradling the globe. If Harry had ever had any doubts about Draco’s suitability for Hermione they were long gone. He looked like he was ready to weep in relief.

Harry knew how he felt.

“She…” Draco jerked his head towards the door where the two witches had left and tried again. “She will be able to get the information? You are certain?”

“I have never seen one of them fail yet.” Harry reassured him.

And his faith was well placed.

Half an hour later of intense questioning and Harry had the counterspell.


	32. Catching Up

While waiting for Draco and probably Harry, to rescue her, Hermione continued to catch Fred up on what had gone on in his absence.

“Angelina married George, they have two children, Roxanne and Fred II, we all call him Freddy. Does… does that bother you?” Hermione asked uncertainly.

“That he named his son after me? No that is amazing! I mean, it would make it awkward for me to have a junior, but I suppose I will just have to name any kids I have after him.” Fred grinned. “Or maybe not, I got the best name after all.”

Hermione laughed. “No, I mean that he married Angelina?”

“No. Why would that bother me?” Hermione was relieved that he seemed so perplexed.

“Well, you did date her in school.” She reminded him.

“Oh for Merlin’s sake Hermione, I did not “date” her we went to one school dance together. That hardly makes for the romance of the century.” Fred laughed. It was so good to hear him laugh she couldn’t help tear up a bit. He covered her hand with his.

“I am so sorry, we have just all missed you so much.” She said wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Well, I should hope so, you got left with the less funny twin. I hope he didn’t run our shop in to the ground.” Fred frowned in mock irritation,

“He did alright, not as well as you would have done.” She was quick to assure him. “He hired Ron after … well, you know.”

“Yeah… need for me to kick his arse for you? I have kept in really good shape here and I am more than twenty years removed from good familial feelings.”

Hermione shook her head. “No thanks, Charlie came home from Romania and did that. “

“Did he now? Good old Charlie. There was always a reason he was my favorite brother who wasn’t a twin. So what else has been happening?”

“Well, there is some serious talk about my replacing Kingsley next year when he retires.” Hermione said careful to seem neutral about it.

“Don’t you have to be an Auror to be Head Auror? Besides, I thought you said Harry was head of that department?”

“No, no. Kingsley is Minister of Magic.” Hermione clarified.

“WHOA! They are talking about making you Minister of Magic? Will we finally be able to start getting away with stuff being as good as family to the Minister and all?” Because of course that was where he thoughts went she grinned.

“Will I finally be able to trust you to start behaving yourself being as good as family to the Minister and all?” Hermione lectured.

They both looked at each other for a long time before laughing hysterically.

“So,” Fred said finally, “tell me about the evil woman who was cackling maniacally about capturing you, I mean I know she was Rita Skeeter, but who was she? You said Ron’s assistant? How did she get away with pretending to be a witch in the Ministry? Don’t they have tighter security than that?”

“Yeah… I don’t know. There were these attacks on muggleborns and halfbloods. It looked like purebloods were doing it, children of Death Eaters but it all felt too much like a set up to me. And one of my officers felt the same. So Harry and I went looking for answers. And I ran into an old acquaintance.”

Hermione told Fred all about Stu and his gang and how she had met Draco and his wife. How Draco had helped her to overcome a lot of her held over issues from the war and she had done the same for him. How the four of them had become friends. She showed him her tattoo of the death mark. Unlike some others Fred understood why she had it.

“I get it. I don’t like seeing it on you, but I get it, you took ownership of it and what it means. I can respect that.”

“Thanks it freaks out a lot of people. Draco got a tattoo of my mudblood scar on his arm. My torture that day really messed him up feeling like he should have stepped in. Later when I found out about Ron and “Cecilia” I don’t know, everywhere I turned all of my friends were related to Ron by blood or marriage, it was just weird to go to them. Except for Draco. So I went to him. And ended up staying. We weren’t romantically involved for a year after I moved in.”

“A year? That is not just a respectable amount of time, that is just painful. No sex at all for a year?” Fred sounded horrified.

“I am perfectly capable of denying myself Fred Weasley.” Honestly! Men!

“I wasn’t pitying you, you daft woman, I was pitying Malfoy, I would have thought I would have a friendly drink in the Three Broomsticks with the Giant Squid before that happened!” Fred looked at her in mock horror.

She slugged him in the arm. “You truly are the best at being the worst!” Fred laughed.

He took her around their little village and showed her how they lived. It was not a terrible existence but it was still prison.

“It would have been far worse had you not won out there I imagine.” Reflected Fred “They had fully intended to torture me for instance to see if George would feel it. Among other experiments they had in mind.”

“To what purpose?” Hermione was appalled.

“Evil seldom has a true purpose and it certainly does not feel the need to explain itself. Before I burned them all the libraries here were filled with books on the experiments in Nazi Germany. I believe they wanted us to know exactly what they had in mind. Some of those books were bound in human skin.”

Hermione shuddered. “I am even more glad we won then.”

“As am I. Though we knew we stood no chance of rescue. I was believed dead. No one was looking for me. I remember my funeral. Being lowered in to the ground and having no way to communicate. I was actually grateful to those bastards for digging me up and bringing me here. That messed with my head for a long time.” He looked disgusted with himself.

Hermione reached out and gave him a side hug but said nothing about it.

“Some of the others hooked up and formed lasting relationships and even had kids.” He waved his hand towards couple of toddlers playing outside.

“But not you?” Hermione was sad for her friend.

“I did. For awhile.” His mouth had set in a hard line.

“What happened?” she asked quietly.

“There is only one way out of here Hermione. I came home one night to find out Katrina had taken it.” He did not clarify. She didn’t need him to.

“Oh Fred, I am so sorry, I don’t know what to say…” She covered his hand with hers.

He nodded. “But we get by. Food is not an issue, our needs are provided for. The stores all have essential stocks of clothing and essentials just like any other village would have. It is designed to be completely self sustaining. But don’t mistake this for a paradise. It is a prison. Nothing new comes in nothing goes out. I know you believe that Draco is coming for you, but Hermione we could literally be anywhere in the world. Tossed in to a rubbish heap somewhere. There is no way for him to find us. No way for anyone to get to us.”

“No, Rita Skeeter is a self center witch. She will keep us someplace where she can gloat. She will want to watch us struggle. He will figure it out. And Harry knows about Cecilia. He doesn’t know she is really Rita, but it won’t take him long.”

“Hermione, you were the brains of that bunch, does he really have the ability to figure this out?

“Harry? Probably. But with Draco by his side? Definitely. Have faith Fred, your kidnapping was well executed. Mine was not.”

At that moment they both felt the world shake and grabbed on to each other for stability.


	33. Back to Reality

Feeling an uncomfortable squeezing in the center of her chest, something like be forced from a tube of toothpaste she imagined, Hermione found herself collapsing on the ground with Fred Weasley on top of her.

“You are incredibly heavy.” She pushed at him.

Fred kissed the bridge of her nose just to annoy her.

The shaking had stopped but Hermione could tell something was off. This was not the soft grass they had just left moments before.

This was a hardwood floor. There were excited voices talking all around her.

Somewhere above her she heard a very familiar and very beloved voice say “Weasley if you do not get off of her I am going to make sex a very unpleasant experience for you for a very long time to come.”

Fred looked down at her in surprise “Blimey if you weren’t right Mione, bloody Draco Malfoy DID come for you! The madness of this new world!”

Hopping up off of her he looked around in to the startled faces of the men. “Wotcher there Harry! You look like shite. Did you get fat?”

“George….?” Harry asked confused.

How had George got in there with her? He had just seen him yesterday.

“Try again mate.” Fred tugged on both good ears.

Fred decided he was really going to enjoy this “coming back from the dead” business. He might even be able to get some free drinks from Madame Rosmerta.

Harry’s eyes got big. What he was seeing was just not possible.

“No… Fred? How?” All Harry could do was gape and babble at his old friend who until thirty seconds ago had spent the last twenty three years dead and buried.

“It isn’t polyjuice Harry. I already risked getting stuck as a specky, scrawny git once.” Fred grinned.

“Merlin…” Harry whispered “It is you… I can’t believe it!” No one else here would have known that joke Fred made years ago…

He grabbed Fred in a hug while Draco tended to Hermione.

Draco carefully scooped her up off of the ground refusing to let her stand on her own. Carefully lifting her shirt he assessed the damage she had done to her healing wounds.

“Harry, she needs to go back to St. Mungos and get checked right now.” Draco was worried about the bruise covering her abdomen. Had it spread? Was it the same size? He couldn’t tell.

Harry dropped to a knee next to her “Merlin Hermione, I am sorry, are you ok?”

“Of course she isn’t OK you git, she wasn’t fully healed.” Draco shot back at him cradling her against his chest.

“I am perfectly fine Draco. Please don’t fuss.” She laid a hand on his cheek making him look at her.

He laid his forehead against hers. “I am never letting you go again.”

“I will have the Aurors summon a healer and we will have her transported at once Draco.” Harry assured him.

“WAIT!” shouted Hermione making the mistake of wincing slightly all but panicking Draco and Harry who started fussing again.

“Stop it right now and listen to me” she snapped.

She struggled to her feet pushing Draco off of her. “There are about 50 other people trapped in that globe including children all prisoners from the war and you need to get them out of there!”

The Aurors and Draco stared at her surprised, there were more in there? FIFTY more?

And children?

“You think you are all surprised.” Fred clapped Harry on the shoulder. “I had Hermione Granger insisting DRACO MALFOY would be the one coming to rescue us.”

“Hey!” Harry glared at her. “I was coming to rescue you too.”

“Yes… but…” she stopped when she looked at Harry and laughed. “OK you are BOTH heroes.”

In the end all agreed they would need to call in a curse breaker to assist with the rescue mission.

Getting one person out, well, two with her hitchhiker with no damage was one thing, fifty people could be problematic.

There was some debate about who to use. Of course Harry and Hermione wanted to call in Bill Weasley, but there was the matter of a newly resurrected brother.

“We need to tell the family.” Harry frowned. “If I don’t Ginny may well kill me.”

“So, you and Ginny, huh?” Fred grinned. “She finally made an honest man of you I take it. Do you make her happy?

“Well,” Harry smiled back “we do have three kids. James, Albus and Lilly.”

Fred tutted. “And not one of them named after me, I am deeply wounded.”

“George already had a son he named after you.” Harry had no idea why he wanted to defend himself, he was just so glad Fred was standing here to banter with.

“There can never be enough Fred Weasley’s in the world.” Fred could not stop grinning.

“Right you are, right you are. But now, let’s get this Fred Weasley back to his family.” Hermione interrupted laughing.

Harry took Fred to owl his family, this was going to be a shock and they had to determine the best way to break the news.

He couldn’t very well just walk in and say “Surprise!”

In the end they invited only George to the Ministry, but did not tell him why. Hermione refused to go anywhere until she had seen them reunited.

Draco did not take that well. He insisted she sit down and kept checking every few seconds to make certain she was not in any pain or bruising any worse.

When George came in he was covered in some kind of purple goo. The foul odor of it, like rotten vegetation, filled the small office.

“This better be good Harry and not just to settle some dumb bet between you and Malfoy again. I am elbow deep in an instant storm potion guaranteed to give Filch…” he stopped short when he saw Fred leaning against a doorframe, his mouth moving soundlessly.

“I… is this some kind of sick joke?” his eyes were beginning to flash with red hot anger.

“No joke Georgie.” Fred was the only one who ever called him Georgie. “It really is me. I can explain but it is going to take a minute. I am not back from the dead. I never actually died. I was held in the same place Hermione was taken when she was kidnapped.”

George reached out and touched Fred’s shoulder just to make sure he wasn’t a hallucination. When he saw that Fred was solid he collapsed into his arms sobbing.

The rest of the group left them alone to sort it out.


	34. I Hired a Band

Draco accompanied Hermione to the hospital never fully letting go of her.

Healer Ambrose carefully checked her over and declared that she had not done any serious damage to her healing and told Draco he could take her home but stressed there was to be NO strenuous exercise of ANY sort. It was very clear what he meant.

Draco glared at him “I am not an animal. I believe I can control my base urges.”

“We have a healer who was sporting a black eye who might have a different spin on that story Mr. Malfoy.” Healer Ambrose glared back at him unswayed.

Healer Ambrose saw no reason to keep Hermione in the hospital. She had damaged nothing further and in spite of her ordeal was still healing nicely.

Not that it mattered. Draco was planning to have his family’s personal healer and keep her under lock and key until his heart stopped beating so hard in his chest.

Once at home, Draco allowed the children to visit with Hermione a few at a time. But he allowed no other visitors beyond Harry and Ginny.

The Weasel tried. And Draco tried to set him on fire. Thank Merlin Harry was there to stop him. Hermione might become upset and start shouting and she would tear something.

Draco was pretty sure that Healer Ambrose would consider shouting “strenuous activity.”

Once they had all gone he sat next to her and pulled her head into his lap stroking her hair. “I have never been more terrified in my life than when I went back in to that room and you were gone.”

Grabbing his hand and planting a kiss in his palm she looked up at him with such trust in her eyes it took his breath away.

He had people look at him with love before, but trust was a new thing he was still getting used to.

“I knew you would come for me. I wasn’t worried. I told Rita she would be happy to be safe in Azkaban once you found her.” Hermione assured him.

He laughed “And how exactly did you come to this conclusion?”

“Draco, you have many fine qualities. Ones that I love. You are intelligent. You are sinfully attractive. You are charming and ungodly talented with your tongue in more ways than one” she grinned at him. “But for all of your fine qualities you are a flawed human being.”

“Oh I am, am I? Can we just stop with all of my very fine qualities and I will take you upstairs and show off some of my tongues talented properties.” Draco wiggled his eyebrows.

She slapped his arm “You heard Healer Ambrose. He was very clear in his instructions.”

He waggled his eyebrows “He said no _strenuous_ exercise. We just have to make sure you stay very, very relaxed.”

“Behave. Now back to your flaws.” Hermione snuggled deeper against him “You are arrogant. You are sinfully possessive. You do not like to share. You won’t even let me taste your ice cream.”

“You always say you only want one scoop and then you finish that and eye mine, if you want two scoops, get two scoops!” Draco defended.

She rolled her eyes “All of that leads one to one conclusion, even if you had not said it many, many times.”

“Oh, and what is that?” He was amused.

“No one steals from a Malfoy. No one.” He was shocked. Those were the very words he had said to Harry.

He laughed and carried her upstairs where he showed her his talented tongue did not require strenuous efforts on her part.

While they were lying in each other’s arms afterwards he suddenly said;

“Marry me.”

“What?” Hermione sat up and looked at him surprised.

Shit that wasn’t how he meant to do this, he had a plan, an evening, romance.

“I…I had not meant to ask you like that, I wanted to take you out, shit I made reservations… I hired a band…” So many plans…

“Yes.” Hermione laughed.

“Yes? Yes to the question or the reservations?” Draco wanted… no, needed, clarification.

He was actually sweating she thought it was incredibly sweet.

Ron had practically tossed the ring at her. She had loved Ron but romance was not his thing.

“Yes I will marry you. I don’t need any of the rest of it. I am happy if at the end of it I just get to keep you.” Hermione assured him.

“Always.”


	35. Epilogue

**This story is now finished I hope you have enjoyed it!**

Hermione went to see Ron.

Draco was pacing in his office.

He knew what Ron had said. He had been coerced into an affair. It hadn’t been his fault.

There was no reason for Hermione not to return to Ron.

He was one of the Golden Trio. A Salazar forsaken war hero. They had a twenty year marriage and two children.

And what was Draco? A bloody ex Death Eater with parents whose names would one day be used to scare small children?

He had no delusions about where he stood. What his chances actually were.

Oh she would break it to him gently of course. And assure him he would always be her best friend blah blah blah. And he would live only because his son would need to have at least one living parent.

Hermione was just as horrified over the condition of the home she had raised her children in as Harry knew she would be.

“So what you are saying is I slept with Rita Skeeter?” Ron groaned.

“Yep.” She ended the past “p” with a popping sound relishing it, It may not have been his fault exactly, but she was still going to relish this, because as Draco would say, fuck him, she couldn’t believe she was blushing to think that even.

“You don’t have to enjoy this Mione, I was being controlled.” Ron pouted.

“Oh, I think I do.” Enjoy it, hell she was going to delight in rubbing his nose in it for years to come. “You let my home go to ruins, you alienated my children and blamed me and you have been a colossal ass. And all because I wanted to take flying lessons to surprise you for your bloody birthday. And not once have I heard a real apology from you. Friends since eleven and I don’t even get a sincere apology. Have I left anything out?”

“No. You are right. Even without being controlled I didn’t do anything to fix it. I just… we had not exactly been doing well in a long time, and Malfoy is… well, everything I am not. He made you laugh and you looked at each other in ways we hadn’t in years. Like you actually LIKED each other. And we seemed to barely tolerate each other on good days. I couldn’t see any reason for you NOT to have an affair with him. Hell, I might have slept with him myself if the offer was on the table.” They both laughed. “Are you at least happy with him?”

“Very, odd as that might sound. It is like the cracks in our souls joined together to form a hinge, where our cracks just…” she looked at him sadly.

“Made bigger cracks?” he offered.

“Something like that.” She smiled at him. “You need to find someone who does that for you Ron. And I want us to be friends again. I miss you, I miss us, the three of us.”

He nodded. “I would really like that.”

They hugged and she went to find her fiancé. His secretary, an incredibly attractive woman named Angie that she would have been terribly jealous of if she had not met the woman’s equally attractive wife waved her in.

She was surprised to find Draco looking tense. His eyes immediately went to her hands.

“Sweetheart? Is everything OK? Did a meeting go bad today?” she immediately went around his desk to sit in his lap.

His arms went around her reflexively but she noticed he did not really relax.

“Draco, what is it, you are starting to scare me.” Hermione searched his eyes.

“How... how did things go with the Weasel?” And when are you moving out he wanted to ask.

“Well enough… I was a little mean… I did enjoy rubbing his nose in the idea that he was sleeping with Rita Skeeter but I remembered what you said you know” she whispered in case Angie could hear her “fuck him” and then she blushed.

He smiled a little at that but the tenseness did not leave his body.

“And then?” He prompted.

“Then I told him exactly how I felt. How no matter that he was controlled in to sleeping with her nothing excused the fact that he never even really apologized. I think I deserved at least that after the length of time we had been friends. And he admitted he was jealous of our friendship because his and my relationship had been, well, not good to say the least for years. If it had not been an affair it would have been something. We could not have gone on much longer the way we were. It sounds awful, but it was really for the best. I was more angry about the veritaserum than the affair.” Hermione confessed.

He looked at her a long time feeling relief beginning but he had to be sure. “So you are… you are not going back to him?”

Hermione hugged him tightly. “Draco, is that what this is about? No, I am not going back to him. I love you and nothing is going to change that. I told Ron that the cracks in our souls have joined together to act like a hinge. I would rather have that open door with you than just bigger cracks with someone else.”

The relief finally washed over him and telling Angie he was taking the day off he scooped up his fiancé to take her home and show her just how relieved he was.

Walking up to the Burrow with an arm slung over each other’s shoulders Fred and George knew they would have to announce Fred’s return with a prank.

Fred and George had decided exactly how they would break the news to their mother who they knew should be the first they would summon the rest of the family after.

Fred walked into the burrow first.

“Oh, hello George dear, would you like a sandwich?” Molly called somewhat distracted.

“I’m not George, I’m Fred,” said the man. “Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can’t you _tell _I’m Fred? You would think the two ears and much better wit would have given it away!”

“Sorry, Fred, dear I…..” she dropped her wand and her hand flew to her mouth as George walked in to stand next to his twin.

It was almost an hour before she could compose herself enough to summon the rest of the family for a full reunion.

The day after the big family reunion Harry had a long conversation with Ron. They made amends for the past year of turmoil.

Hermione’s floo was not accepting calls.

Harry James Potter went back to his home where there were blissfully no children to resume his very good day, the one that had been interrupted so rudely over a year ago.


End file.
